We just covered Avoid SpaceX and Buy These 11 Stocks Instead. Nokia (NYSE:NOK) ranks #5 (see Avoid SpaceX and Buy These 5 Stocks Instead).
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 66
Redditors are saying Nokia (NYSE:NOK) should not be seen as an old-school telecom equipment company hanging on for dear life. It has transformed. Nokia is emerging as a serious player in AI infrastructure. That’s the real story that Wall Street is still catching up on.
In Q1 2026, Nokia’s AI and cloud sales jumped 49% year over year. This segment now accounts for about 8% of Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) total revenue. In just the first quarter, Nokia pulled in €1 billion in AI and cloud orders. Those are firm purchase orders with real delivery dates from real customers. The order backlog is so big that lead times are running 12 to 18 months. Demand is crushing what the company can supply right now.
But what exactly is Nokia (NYSE:NOK) making for AI? Here’s what matters. Nokia makes optical networking equipment. When hyperscalers build massive data centers, they need to connect all those servers together with super-fast fiber optic cables. Nokia makes the equipment that puts data onto those cables and pulls it off. It’s called coherent optical technology. This equipment lets data move really fast and really efficiently between data centers and inside data centers.
Nokia also makes IP networking equipment, which is the switching and routing gear that directs all that data traffic through the data center.
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is developing AI-RAN technology with Nvidia. AI-RAN uses artificial intelligence to dynamically optimize wireless networks. Instead of humans manually tuning radio networks, AI does it automatically. This is the move from 5G to 6G wireless technology. It’s a completely new revenue stream outside of just replacing old equipment.
Bulls say Nokia (NYSE:NOK) went from a declining telecom vendor to a growth company in AI infrastructure. Margins are expanding right now. The Infinera synergies are flowing early. Fab 2 comes online later in 2026 to solve supply constraints. New products launch in the second half of 2027 with volume shipments. As AI and cloud revenues grow from 8% toward 15-20% of the total company, Nokia gets reclassified from telecom to infrastructure. That’s when the real rerating happens.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of NOK as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NOK and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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