Nokia Beats Q3 Profit Estimates as AI and Cloud Networking Sales Surge 123%

Nokia beat third-quarter profit estimates as sales to AI and cloud customers surged 123% year over year and quarterly orders from that group rose 118% to €1.5B. Total net sales climbed 10% on a reported basis (9% adjusted for comparability) to €5.154B, while comparable operating profit margin expanded by 2.2 percentage points to 11.7%. The Network Infrastructure segment grew 15% on a comparable basis, driven by a 43% rise in IP Networks and an 18% gain in Optical Networks, alongside an Infinera integration now expected to finish ahead of schedule by the end of 2026. CEO Justin Hotard left the full-year 2026 outlook unchanged at €2.1B to €2.6B in comparable operating profit and 12% to 14% growth for Network Infrastructure. Nokia currently supplies nine of the ten largest cloud providers and completed what it described as the world's first live AI-RAN call on October 21, 2026, on T-Mobile's network with NVIDIA, with about 20 operators running related pilots.