For years, Nokia was treated like a company that had already had its moment. Once a symbol of the mobile-phone age, the Finnish group later became a slower telecom equipment stock, tied to carrier spending, 5G cycles and thin investor excitement. In 2026, that view has changed fast. Nokia shares have jumped about 100% this year, helped by a growing belief that the company is no longer just a legacy telecom gear maker.
Investors are now looking at it as an artificial intelligence infrastructure play, with exposure to data centres, optical networks, IP routing and switching equipment used by large cloud companies.
