Nokia Q3 2026: Sales +10% to €5.15B as AI & Cloud Revenue Doubles

Nokia (HEL: NOKIA, NYSE: NOK), the Finnish network infrastructure company, reported third-quarter 2026 net sales of €5,154 million, up 10% year over year (9% on a constant currency basis). The growth engine is AI & Cloud, where net sales more than doubled to €631 million and order intake hit €1.5 billion. Reported operating profit fell to €196 million (3.8% margin) from €252 million a year ago, but that is entirely the restructuring story: €357 million of restructuring and associated charges versus €44 million last year. Strip those out and comparable operating profit rose 35% to €605 million, with margin up 220 basis points to 11.7%. Profit from continuing operations nearly doubled to €176 million, or €0.03 diluted per share.

Both segments pulled their weight. Network Infrastructure sales grew 17% to €2,158 million, with IP Networks up 45% and Optical Networks up 19% on AI & Cloud demand, partly offset by a deliberate 21% decline in lower-margin Fixed Networks. Mobile Infrastructure grew 5% to €2,902 million — Radio Networks up 11% with some revenue pulled forward from Q4, Technology Standards up 9% on recent license deals — while Core Software fell 13% in de-emphasized applications. Full-year guidance is unchanged: comparable operating profit of €2.1–2.6 billion, with Q4 sales expected up 20–24% quarter over quarter and the Infinera integration now targeted for completion by end of 2026, a year early, with €200 million of net synergies. Free cash flow was negative €99 million as working capital absorbed €560 million to secure supply for 2027, leaving cash plus interest-bearing investments at €5,023 million.

The Headline Numbers​

Operating cash flow of €95 million (down from €597 million) reflects the working capital build: receivables up roughly €230 million, inventories up €130 million, partly offset by €90 million higher liabilities, plus €290 million of restructuring cash outflows. Nokia paid €226 million in dividends during the quarter under the €0.14-per-share authorization. Management raised the 2026 restructuring bar to €1,100 million of charges (€800–900 million cash) while cutting the free-cash-flow conversion assumption to 35–55%, and now guides combined Optical and IP Networks growth of 25–30% in 2027.

Five years in the ledger: the ASN exit, the Infinera bet, the AI pivot​

The ledger runs FY2021–FY2025 plus this quarter. Net sales peaked at €23,761 million in 2022 (restated) and troughed at €19,220 million in 2024 before recovering to €19,889 million in 2025. Two artifacts reward a look: FY2022's €4,259 million profit is flattered by a €2,033 million deferred-tax benefit, and FY2024 carries a €427 million discontinued-operations loss from the Alcatel Submarine Networks business Nokia sold to the French state in December 2024. The Infinera acquisition closed at the end of February 2025, lifting goodwill toward the current €6,150 million, and from Q2 2026 the Fixed Wireless Access CPE and Enterprise Campus Edge businesses moved to discontinued operations (€43 million of assets held for sale). Note the balance sheet's two giants: €6,817 million of defined-benefit pension assets and a €1,272 million translation debit from the weak dollar at end-2025. Every annual income statement and balance sheet, plus this quarter's interim statements, is modeled as examinable Beancount below.

Sources​

• Q3 2026 interim report (Form 6-K, October 22, 2026)
• Form 20-F for fiscal year 2025
• Form 20-F for fiscal year 2024 (restated comparatives)