Nokia reports Q1 comparable EPS EUR 0.05 vs. EUR 0.03 last year

Reports Q1 revenue EUR 4.5B vs. EUR 4.39B last year. Reports Q1 comparable net sales grew 4%. The company said, “We delivered a solid start to the year, with net sales growing 4%, gross margin expanding 320bps and operating margin expanding 200bps in the first quarter. Demand continued to be strong, particularly in AI & Cloud, where net sales grew 49% and now account for 8% of group sales. We also booked EUR 1 billion of orders from AI & Cloud customers in the quarter. Network Infrastructure net sales grew 6%, with Optical Networks growing 20%, supported by strong order intake and a book-to-bill well above one. We won a number of important AI & Cloud design wins and orders for both pluggables and line systems in the quarter. IP Networks net sales grew 3% and we expect growth to improve in Q2 and for the full year. In Fixed Networks, net sales declined 13%, reflecting our strategic shift to higher-margin products. Our core fiber OLT business was largely flat, with a growing pipeline in our major markets. At our Capital Markets Day in November, we outlined our view of the AI supercycle and the market opportunity for Nokia (NOK). Since then, demand has accelerated significantly. We now expect the addressable market in AI & Cloud to grow at a 27% CAGR, compared to the 16% we estimated in November. Across the supply chain, demand is accelerating and lead times are extending, reflecting the scale of investment underway.”