Nokia's August Dividend Lands as Investors Weigh a Halved Share Price Against a Brighter Credit Picture

Nokia pays €0.04 dividend as shares drop 30% in a month, but AI-driven revenue and S&P positive outlook suggest fundamentals remain strong.

Helsinki — Nokia shareholders collecting a €0.04-per-share payout on Thursday are getting their money at a moment of unusual tension in the stock. The Finnish telecom equipment maker's shares have shed roughly a third of their value in a month, yet the company's underlying business — and its credit rating — are telling a decidedly more upbeat story.

The dividend, approved by Nokia's board on July 23, is the latest installment under a shareholder authorization granted at the annual general meeting on April 9. For fiscal year 2025, the company is permitted to distribute up to €0.14 per share in staggered payments. With the record date having passed on July 28, Thursday's disbursement leaves the board with authority for a further €0.06 per share, though no timeline has been set for any additional tranche.

A Chart That Tells One Story, Fundamentals Another

The disconnect between Nokia's share price and its operational performance has rarely been starker. The stock closed Monday at €7.77, down 2.04 percent on the day, and sits roughly 48 percent below its 52-week high of €14.97, reached on June 3. Over the past 30 days, the decline has exceeded 30 percent — a slide that has caught the attention of technically minded traders. The 14-day relative strength index, at 32.2, is flirting with oversold territory.

Yet the same week that brought the dividend also brought second-quarter results that painted anything but a picture of distress. Revenue from AI and cloud customers jumped 105 percent year over year, with the network infrastructure division leading the charge. Optical networks grew 20 percent and IP networks 16 percent, both on a currency-adjusted basis. Comparable operating profit came in at €434 million, ahead of analyst expectations.

The company also raised its full-year guidance, now targeting comparable operating profit of €2.1 billion to €2.6 billion, up from a prior range of €2.0 billion to €2.5 billion. Part of that uplift stems from a reclassification: the fixed wireless access CPE and enterprise campus edge businesses will now be reported as discontinued operations.

S&P Turns More Positive

The credit markets are taking notice. On July 30, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Nokia from "stable" to "positive" while affirming the long-term issuer rating at BBB-. The agency cited the company's successful diversification and growing demand for network infrastructure from AI and cloud hyperscalers as key drivers.

S&P projects roughly 10 to 15 percent annual growth in Nokia's network infrastructure segment through 2027, fueled by the data appetite of large cloud providers. The agency indicated that an upgrade of one notch within the next 24 months is possible.

The optimism is grounded in concrete order activity. Nokia reported AI-related orders of €2.8 billion in the second quarter, and its strategic pivot toward higher-margin infrastructure is reinforced by recent deal-making. On July 14, the company expanded its 5G partnership with Taiwan Mobile, supplying its AirScale portfolio along with AI-driven software including MantaRay SON and Predictive Hardware Analytics.

A Technical Crossroads

For chart watchers, the near-term picture remains fragile. The stock has been testing its 200-day moving average, which sits at €7.94 — a level that, if reclaimed on a sustained basis, is often read as a signal of a more stable longer-term trend. A second article tracking the stock noted a 0.98 percent gain to €8.01 on Monday, with the RSI at 34.4, though the two readings reflect slightly different observation points.

Despite the recent slide, Nokia shares remain firmly in positive territory for the year, up roughly 39 percent since January 1. The juxtaposition is striking: a stock that has nearly halved from its June peak, yet still holds onto most of its 2026 gains, while its credit outlook brightens and its AI-driven order book expands.

For shareholders collecting Thursday's dividend, the question is whether the market's recent pessimism represents a genuine reassessment or a technical correction that will eventually give way to the improving fundamentals that S&P and Nokia's own guidance point toward. The remaining €0.06 per share in authorized distributions offers the board room to signal its confidence — but so far, no calendar has been set.