Nokia Brings Its AI Infrastructure Story to the 6G Summit Stage in Málaga

At EuCNC & 6G Summit, Nokia demonstrates 6G teleoperated driving; stock up 151% YTD on AI infrastructure demand, optical networks +20%, Infinera deal boosts synergies.

The EuCNC & 6G Summit kicked off in Málaga on Tuesday with more than 1,000 delegates from 40 countries, and Nokia is there not just as a gold patron but as a company that wants to be seen as an architect of the next wave of wireless technology. The Finnish network equipment maker is using the platform, which runs through June 5, to demonstrate teleoperated driving, immersive telepresence over low-latency 6G links, and AI-native network architectures designed to manage congestion preemptively.

The summit comes at a moment when Nokia’s stock is riding a wave of enthusiasm that has little to do with traditional telecom cycles. Shares closed Monday at €13.98, leaving them just 1.10% below the year’s high and up 151.17% year to date. That rally has been fuelled by a growing recognition among investors that Nokia’s optical networking and data-centre equipment are becoming critical components of the AI supply chain.

Bloomberg captured the mood shift late last month when it grouped Nokia alongside Dell, Lenovo, Cisco, Intel, Micron and Texas Instruments as legacy-technology names being re-rated by the AI infrastructure boom. Those seven stocks together added $1.7 trillion in market value this year, with Nokia climbing 124% — enough to rank fourth in the Stoxx Europe 600. Despite the surge, the stock still trades 80% below its dot-com era peak, a discrepancy that has drawn bargain-hunters looking for cheaper exposure to the AI theme.

Analysts have been quick to lift their sights. Morgan Stanley raised its price target to €14 from €11 and kept an “Overweight” rating. Deutsche Bank moved its target to €8.50 from €7.50 and reiterated “Buy”. CFRA set a dollar target of $16.00 and upgraded the stock to “Buy”. The common thread is the belief that Nokia is shifting from a cyclical telecom supplier to an infrastructure play tied to the build-out of AI and cloud capacity.

The thesis is backed by first-quarter numbers that show the pivot is generating real revenue. Comparable net sales rose 4% year on year to €4.5 billion. Within that, the network infrastructure division grew 6%, powered by a 20% jump in optical networks and a 49% surge in revenue from AI and cloud clients. That customer segment now accounts for roughly 8% of group sales and generated new orders worth €1 billion during the quarter.

Management sees the momentum accelerating. Nokia expects network infrastructure revenue to expand by 12% to 14% in 2026, with optical and IP networks together growing 18% to 20%. Comparable operating profit is forecast to land between €2 billion and €2.5 billion.

The Infinera acquisition, completed on February 28, 2025, is central to the strategy. The deal turned Nokia into a heavyweight in optical networking and strengthened its hand with webscale customers. Nokia expects the combination to yield more than €200 million in annual comparable operating synergies by 2027, with benefits building over three years. The transaction was already accretive to comparable earnings per share in 2025.

Nokia has also locked in a high-profile partner. Nvidia invested $1 billion in the company at the end of 2025, with the collaboration focused on AI-RAN — marrying artificial intelligence workloads with radio access networks. T-Mobile US has already signed on as a key deployment partner.

The Málaga summit gives Nokia a chance to showcase the technologies that underpin this story, from 6G prototypes to software-defined networks that can handle the traffic patterns of AI workloads. The demonstrations are meant to signal that Nokia is not simply a hardware vendor but a designer of the network architectures that will support tomorrow’s data-intensive applications.

Investors will get a harder test of the narrative on July 23, when Nokia reports second-quarter and first-half results. The question will be whether the order momentum from the first quarter translates into revenue and whether the operating leverage from optical networks starts to show up in the bottom line. With the stock trading at 112% above its 200-day moving average, volatility running at 76%, and an RSI of 64 suggesting continued strength without overbought extremes, the rally has been spectacular — but the Málaga showcase and the July numbers will determine whether it has staying power.