Moody's Lifts Nokia to Investment Grade as Jefferies Keeps Its Buy Call
Published on 11/07/2026 at 14:51 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Nokia's credit profile just crossed a threshold the company had been pushing toward for years. Moody's Ratings raised the Finnish telecom equipment maker's long-term issuer rating and its rating on senior unsecured obligations from Ba1 to Baa3, moving the group into investment-grade territory. The outlook stays positive. Moody's pointed to demand for AI and cloud infrastructure as the driver behind the decision.
Equity analysts are reading the same signal. Jefferies reaffirmed its buy recommendation on Nokia on October 30, according to media reports, and left its price target untouched at EUR 13.80. The stock closed Friday at EUR 7.00, up 3.5% on the session.
AI and cloud sales more than double
The upgrade lands on the back of hard numbers. In its quarterly report roughly two weeks ago, Nokia said third-quarter 2026 revenue from its AI and cloud segment jumped 123% year over year. Group sales for the period came in at EUR 5.154 billion, with comparable operating profit of EUR 605 million. Management kept its full-year 2026 guidance for comparable operating profit at between EUR 2.1 billion and EUR 2.6 billion.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Nokia?
The 3.5% advance came as AI-linked equities broadly recovered from a selloff. AP reported gains among companies tied to building AI data centers. That describes the sector backdrop only — the agency did not single out Nokia as a driver of the move, nor did it attribute the share price gain to the recovery in those names.
Hotwire picks Nokia for North Carolina build
On the operational side, Hotwire Communications selected Nokia on Wednesday to build a next-generation network in North Carolina. The infrastructure will be prepared for AI networking architectures, with Hotwire expecting service to go live in early 2027.
Longer out, Nokia's "Global Network Traffic Report" projects that artificial intelligence will account for 44% of global network traffic by 2035 — a forecast, not a current figure. Total traffic across the same horizon is expected to approach 3,789 exabytes per month. That volume estimate covers all worldwide network traffic, while the 44% share describes only the portion generated by AI.
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Nokia Stock: New Analysis - 7 November
Fresh Nokia information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
