Nokia Sells FWA Operations, Deepens Nvidia Ties as AI Orders Surpass €1 Billion

Nokia’s transformation into a pure-play AI infrastructure specialist is gathering pace, with the stock climbing 3.78% on Thursday to €12.21 — pushing its year-to-date gain past 119% and within striking distance of its 52-week high. The relative strength index sits at 38.1, a technically subdued reading that suggests room for further upside as the market digests a flurry of strategic announcements.

The Helsinki-based telecom equipment maker booked more than €1 billion in orders from AI and cloud customers during the first quarter alone, driving a 49% surge in segment revenue. Comparable gross margins improved to 45.5%, while operating profit rose to €281 million. Management has reaffirmed its full-year target of up to €2.5 billion in operating profit.

A pivotal driver of that momentum is a deepening collaboration with Nvidia and T-Mobile, announced recently, to embed physical AI applications into next-generation mobile networks. The partnership builds on Nokia’s existing traction in optical networks and IP routing, where combined growth is expected to hit 18–20% in 2026.

To cement its AI ambitions, Nokia opened an “AI Networking Innovation Lab” in Sunnyvale, California, working alongside AMD, Lenovo and Supermicro to develop low-latency, high-throughput solutions for hyperscale data center workloads. The lab’s debut coincides with Cisco’s disclosure last week of $5.3 billion in AI-related orders from hyperscalers, with a year-end target of $9 billion — a signal that the entire networking industry is riding the same wave.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Nokia?

Nokia itself now sees its Network Infrastructure division growing 12–14% this year, with optical and IP networks leading the charge.

In a separate but telling move, the company agreed on April 30, 2026, to sell its Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) business to Inseego. The deal is structured as a roughly 7% equity stake in Inseego valued at $20 million, plus an additional $10 million cash investment, bringing Nokia’s total holding to about 11%. Though financially immaterial in Nokia’s broader context, the transaction represents a sharp strategic repositioning: exiting consumer-oriented broadband hardware to double down on high-margin infrastructure for the AI era. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Meanwhile, Nokia transferred 975,289 treasury shares to participants in its long-term equity compensation plans — a routine but well-timed move approved back in October 2025 to retain top executives. After the transfer, the company still holds 132.4 million of its own shares. Shareholders are also benefiting from a dividend of up to €0.14 per share for the current year, with the first tranche already paid in early May.

Nokia at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.

The challenge ahead lies in scaling the Nvidia partnership and converting the order backlog into sustainable margin expansion. If Nokia can execute, the stock’s 119% rally may prove only a prelude.

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