Investor enthusiasm ignites after finance expert's glowing endorsement sends shares of telecom giant soaring double digits in wake of impressive quarterly earnings report.

Table of Contents Nokia (NOK) shares jumped nearly 6% during Friday’s session, reaching approximately $13.65, propelled by impressive first-quarter earnings, multiple analyst upgrades, and growing artificial intelligence tailwinds. Nokia Oyj, NOK This latest surge extends an extraordinary rally. The telecommunications equipment manufacturer has now gained over 113% since the beginning of the year and posted returns exceeding 155% across the past twelve months. Trading activity reflected heightened investor interest. Approximately 68.96 million shares traded hands Friday, surpassing the three-month average daily volume of roughly 65.97 million. Nokia’s first-quarter performance provided significant catalysts for the rally. Overall net sales increased 4% compared to the prior year period, while the Optical Networks division delivered exceptional 20% growth. The headline figure was a dramatic 49% revenue increase from AI and cloud infrastructure customers. Company executives attributed this expansion to accelerating capital deployment by hyperscale cloud providers and surging enterprise AI computing demands. The Finnish network equipment giant has also secured approximately €1 billion in AI-related contracts, strengthening the investment thesis among Wall Street analysts tracking the company. Arete Research elevated Nokia from neutral to buy Thursday, triggering a 3.6% single-day gain that pushed shares to an intraday peak of $12.92. Trading volume spiked 122% above typical levels following the rating change. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its overweight recommendation earlier in the week. Nordea Equity Research similarly upgraded the stock to buy on April 24th. Currently, 12 analysts maintain buy ratings on Nokia, alongside four hold recommendations and two sell ratings. The consensus rating stands at Moderate Buy, though the average price target of $9.71 sits substantially below current trading levels. Citigroup represents the most prominent skeptic, standing by its sell rating established in January. Nokia recently announced plans to transfer its Fixed Wireless Access CPE operations to Inseego. Under the transaction terms, Nokia will acquire an equity position in Inseego, and both companies will collaborate on next-generation technologies including 6G networks, wireless edge computing infrastructure, and AI-enhanced connectivity solutions. Inseego conducted an investor conference call this week to outline the acquisition details, offering additional transparency regarding the partnership framework and strategic direction. This transaction enables Nokia to exit a lower-margin hardware category while maintaining FWA market participation through its Inseego ownership stake. CNBC host Jim Cramer offered his endorsement Friday, declaring Nokia “a winner” during market commentary. He remarked, “I gotta hand it to those guys for sticking around because, wow, I think it’s got a lot of good technology.” Nokia also increased its quarterly dividend payment to $0.0468, up from the previous $0.04 distribution, translating to an annualized yield near 1.5%. The dividend is scheduled for May 12th payment to shareholders of record as of April 28th. One potential concern merits attention: the trailing price-to-earnings multiple hovers around 80, creating vulnerability to any operational missteps or disappointing earnings results. Wall Street currently projects full-year earnings per share of $0.41. Nokia’s market capitalization has reached approximately $74 billion. The 50-day moving average stands at $8.83, with the 200-day moving average at $7.32—both significantly below the current share price.