Nokia Q2 profit beat AI cloud sales double

Nokia reported a bigger than expected rise in its quarterly comparable operating profit on July 23, 2026, as the Finnish telecom gear maker got a boost from artificial intelligence and cloud customers. Comparable operating profit jumped 18% to 434 million euros in the second quarter of 2026, above the average estimate of 382 million euros from analysts polled by London Stock Exchange Group. Nokia has been shifting focus to selling fibre-optic equipment to big tech companies building AI data centres. The company, however, was not immune to the sudden increase in memory chip prices due to AI companies cornering the market and impacting telecom equipment makers. CEO Justin Hotard, who joined Nokia last year from Intel's Data Center & AI Group, has focused on expanding the data centre business and made a billion-dollar deal with Nvidia. Comparable net sales reached 4.82 billion euros, above market estimates. Net sales from AI and cloud customers doubled in the quarter to 446 million euros, as it booked 2.8 billion euros in new orders. Nokia increased its full-year comparable operating profit guidance range to between 2.1 billion euros and 2.6 billion, from 2 billion euros and 2.5 billion euros. Rival Ericsson warned last week that it was under pressure from rising memory chip costs driven by surging AI demand, sending its shares tumbling.