A Nokia afirmou nesta quinta-feira (22) que continua vendo força na demanda ligada a IA (inteligência artificial) e à expansão de data centers, à medida que a empresa finlandesa amplia sua participação no fornecimento de infraestrutura de rede para esse ciclo de investimentos.

No terceiro trimestre, as vendas do negócio de infraestrutura de redes – que concentra tecnologias de rede voltadas a IA e data centers – cresceram 17% na comparação anual, impulsionadas por demanda de clientes de IA e nuvem nas Américas.

No período, a Nokia registrou 1,5 bilhão de euros em pedidos desses clientes e manteve a expectativa de que as vendas anuais desse segmento avancem entre 12% e 14% em 2026.

Já as vendas de equipamentos de infraestrutura móvel – área tradicional de tecnologia e serviços para comunicações móveis – subiram 5% na comparação anual, com os maiores avanços vindo de Japão, Índia e da região EMEA (Europa, Oriente Médio e África), segundo a companhia.

A Nokia também reiterou a projeção de lucro operacional comparável do grupo para o ano cheio entre 2,1 bilhões e 2,6 bilhões de euros, apesar de prever custos maiores com reestruturação e iniciativas de redução de despesas.

A empresa agora estima encargos de 1,1 bilhão de euros, acima da previsão anterior de 800 milhões de euros, após ampliar o alcance de alguns programas de reestruturação para acelerar a simplificação das operações.

Fabricante da Nokia lança celular da Barbie em parceria com Mattel

O lucro bruto da Nokia entre janeiro e setembro ascendeu a 6.298 milhões de euros, um aumento de 7,7% em termos homólogos, embora o resultado operacional tenha diminuído 43% para 229 milhões.

© MIKKO STIG/EPA

Nokia CEO Justin Hotard (pictured) pointed to a boom in sales for its AI and cloud products during Q3, as he asserted the vendor is in a strong position to take advantage of growing demand for related infrastructure.

AI and cloud sales were up 123% year-on-year, with €1.5 billion of new orders placed in the quarter.

Hotard reported there is also an order backlog, positioning it for further growth in the area.

“Nokia’s strengths are uniquely suited to meet growing demands for AI infrastructure that is larger, more distributed and hyperconnected,” he added. “We are investing where we can differentiate and co-innovate with hyperscalers”.

Hotard highlighted progress on AI-RAN, which was the subject of an update yesterday (21 October) made at an event held by the Finnish vendor’s partner and investor Nvidia.

“AI-native networks are moving into the physical world and our AI-RAN platform is being developed to deliver the performance needed for this market,” Hotard said.

Gains
Nokia booked net profit of €156 million in Q3, up 95%.

Net sales were almost €5.2 billion, a 10% increase. The latter figure would have been a 9% rise with exchange rate fluctuations stripped out.

In its Mobile Infrastructure division, revenue was up 5% to €2.9 billion, partly attributed to shifting income from Q4 into Q3. The company noted this part of the business benefitted from “commercial discipline” and continued execution of cost reduction measures.

Hotard highlighted Nokia had continued to “simplify our portfolio” and was on track to complete the integration of optical networks company Infinera by the end of 2026, having acquired it in 2025.

The process is set to be completed a year ahead of its original plan, with the executive noting this created €200 million in net synergies.

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