Nokia's AI Order Book Meets a Traffic Forecast That Redraws the Map

Nokia shares advanced 1.0% today, extending a rebound that began when the stock recovered alongside the wider US technology market from the previous session's selloff. The bounce carried a caveat, however: press reports tied the recovery to lingering unease over the company's softer free cash flow guidance and restructuring costs, and pointed to no fresh company-specific catalyst behind the move.

A Selloff Without a Nokia Story

The pullback that preceded the rebound hit AI- and data-center-linked technology names broadly on Thursday. According to media accounts, investors fretted that political resistance amplified by elections could slow data-center construction. No Nokia-specific announcement was identified as the main trigger. The pattern repeated the prior week, when reports attributed the stock's swings chiefly to the sector backdrop, with concerns about the pace of AI investment driving the wider retreat.

Investment-Grade Status, Sector Swings

Moody's Ratings lifted Nokia's long-term issuer rating and its rating on senior unsecured obligations from Ba1 to Baa3 roughly a week ago, with the outlook left positive. That upgrade, reported in the press, nonetheless failed to shield the shares from the industry-driven volatility that followed.

The Numbers Behind the Quarter

Roughly three weeks ago Nokia reported third-quarter 2026 comparable operating profit up 35%, reaching EUR 605 million, while leaving its full-year outlook unchanged. Revenue from AI and cloud customers climbed 123%, and CEO Justin Hotard put the value of related new orders at EUR 1.5 billion.

A Long View: 3,789 Exabyte

Nokia's worldwide network traffic report, published on November 4, offers a longer horizon. The company projects that artificial intelligence will account for 44% of global data traffic by 2035, with total monthly volume rising to almost 3,789 exabytes by then. Nokia argues that the growing flow of data from users into networks, combined with the need for low latency, will force changes to network infrastructure — concrete requirements it links to AI's expected spread. Traffic from autonomous AI agents could be the sharpest riser: Nokia expects roughly a 160-fold increase by 2035. Data traffic from physical AI applications is projected to climb 105-fold over the same period.

Hotwire Picks Nokia for North Carolina

On the order front, Hotwire Communications selected Nokia about a week ago to build an AI-ready network in North Carolina, drawing on the vendor's 7750 Service Router line. Commercial operation is targeted for early 2027.

Radio Access, Satellites and Field Tests

Nokia and NVIDIA announced further progress on October 21 toward commercial deployment of AI-driven radio access networks. First lab measurements with Deutsche Telekom showed uplink data throughput improvements of 10–15%, and more than a dozen operators were running tests or proofs of concept. Separately, Nokia and Finnish satellite firm ICEYE aim to begin production of their defense satellite system by 2028.