Nokia, the 161-year-old company, has become the hottest AI infrastructure stock, with shares soaring 140% year to date.
Shares of the Finnish company, founded as a paper mill, rose from 6.50 at the start of the year to 15.78, its 52-week high in May.
These are the highest inventory levels since 2008.
The reason for this rally is Nvidia’s investment in October 2025 at 6.01 per share, or about a 3% stake.
This collaboration is focused on AI-RAN, which is an AI workload combined with wireless network infrastructure. The project’s first deployment partner is T-Mobile, while Nokia’s AI-RAN offering has 10 public customers, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, SoftBank and NTT Docomo.
The recovery accelerated after the release of Nokia’s financial results for the first quarter. The company reported revenue of around €4.5 billion, up 4% year-on-year, while its comparable operating profit jumped 54% to €281 million.
AI and cloud sales jumped 49% and Nokia signed cloud deals worth €1 billion during the quarter, most of them related to optical networking products used in AI data centers.
First quarter revenue in Optical Networks increased by 20%. CEO Justin Hotard said cloud leaders will spend more than $700 billion on their AI infrastructure needs.
For now, Nokia’s infrastructure growth is expected to grow by 12-14%, while optical and IP networks are expected to grow by 18-20%.
