Not by itself. Nokia’s latest results show 5G-related mobile demand helping its business, but the clearest growth came from Network Infrastructure and AI & Cloud customers. Whether Nokia earns a “redemption” depends on broader, measurable progress: sustained comparable operating-profit growth, stronger segment performance, and delivery against its targets—not on 5G sales alone.
What would Nokia’s “redemption” mean?
For Nokia, redemption is not a single product launch or a return to consumer-phone prominence. In business terms, it would mean consistently growing comparable operating profit, improving the economics of its businesses, and meeting the targets it has published. Nokia’s results provide early signs of progress, but they do not yet establish a completed turnaround.
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The evidence here is Nokia’s company-reported Q2 and first-half 2026 results, published on 23 July 2026, alongside its strategy and targets announced in November 2025. These figures are not independent forecasts or assessments.
What Nokia’s latest results say about 5G
In Q2 2026, Nokia reported net sales of EUR 4.815 billion. Sales to AI & Cloud customers rose 105% year on year, while Network Infrastructure sales increased 12% to EUR 2.037 billion. Mobile Infrastructure sales rose 7% on a constant-currency basis to EUR 2.680 billion. Nokia said near-term demand was driven by 5G technologies, so 5G is relevant to its mobile business—but it was not the strongest reported growth engine. Nokia Q2 and Half Year 2026 results
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Mobile Infrastructure combines Core Software, Radio Networks and Technology Standards under Nokia’s operating model effective 1 January 2026. Its Q2 operating profit was EUR 310 million, unchanged year on year. That is a meaningful contribution, but it does not show an acceleration in segment profit alongside the growth in sales.
Network Infrastructure’s 12% growth and the 105% increase in AI & Cloud customer sales point to a wider story than mobile-network upgrades. Nokia’s results suggest that 5G can support the business while demand for data-center and other network infrastructure creates additional growth opportunities.
Does the profit improvement amount to a turnaround?
Nokia’s Q2 comparable operating profit rose 18% year on year to EUR 434 million, and comparable operating margin improved 70 basis points to 9.0%. These measures exclude items Nokia classifies as comparable adjustments. The reported result tells a different story: Nokia recorded an operating loss of EUR 50 million and a negative operating margin of 1.0%, which it attributed to a faster pace of restructuring. Comparable profit and reported profit should not be treated as interchangeable.
For the first half of 2026, comparable sales were EUR 9.251 billion, up 7% on a constant-currency and portfolio basis, and comparable operating profit reached EUR 735 million, up 28% year on year. This supports a claim of improving comparable performance, but one strong half-year—and a quarter with a reported operating loss—is not enough to prove that improvement will endure.
How Nokia’s targets compare with its current position
Nokia’s 2026 comparable operating-profit outlook is EUR 2.1–2.6 billion. The company described the change from its previous EUR 2.0–2.5 billion range as a technical revision following the presentation of Fixed Wireless Access CPE and Enterprise Campus Edge as discontinued operations; it said the operational outlook was unchanged. These are full-year expectations, not results already earned.
In November 2025, Nokia set a 2028 comparable operating-profit target of EUR 2.7–3.2 billion. It also published segment targets for the new operating structure. The company reported comparable operating profit of EUR 2.0 billion for full-year 2025, but that baseline predates the 2026 reorganization. Its earlier Mobile Networks reporting perimeter is not interchangeable with the current Mobile Infrastructure segment.
| Measure | Current result or outlook | Published target |
|---|---|---|
| Group comparable operating profit | 2026 outlook: EUR 2.1–2.6 billion, Nokia’s full-year estimate | EUR 2.7–3.2 billion for 2028 |
| Network Infrastructure sales | Q2 2026: EUR 2.037 billion, up 12% year on year | 6–8% sales CAGR for 2025–2028 |
| Network Infrastructure operating margin | Not stated in the cited Q2 results for this comparison | 13–17% by 2028 |
| Mobile Infrastructure gross margin | Not stated in the cited Q2 results for this comparison | 48–50% by 2028 |
The segment targets are not achieved outcomes. Nokia will need to show that revenue growth translates into the targeted margins and that group profit advances from its 2026 outlook toward the 2028 range. The targets and strategy are set out in Nokia’s November 2025 strategy announcement.
Why 5G is a bridge, not the whole strategy
Nokia’s November 2025 strategy made “Lead the next era of mobile connectivity with AI-native networks and 6G” one of five priorities. The others are accelerating AI & Cloud growth, growing through customer and partner co-innovation, focusing capital where Nokia can differentiate, and unlocking sustainable returns. The new operating model separates Network Infrastructure from Mobile Infrastructure.
The company’s stated direction links current 5G demand to a longer transition. In its Q4 and full-year 2025 results, Nokia CEO Justin Hotard said: “While near-term demand is driven by 5G technologies and we see promise for OpenRAN, we are also investing to lead in the transition towards AI-native networks and 6G.” That is Nokia’s view of the opportunity, not independent proof that demand or returns will materialize. Nokia Q4 and full-year 2025 results
In Q2 2026, Hotard said Nokia had launched what the company described as the industry’s first commercial AI-RAN platform, intended to benefit 5G networks and offer a software upgrade path to 6G. That “first” claim and the anticipated benefits are Nokia’s claims. The commercial test will be whether customers adopt the platform and it contributes to profitable growth.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What could prevent the turnaround?
Nokia identifies several risks that matter to the 5G thesis and its wider growth plans:
- Customer investment choices: Operators can delay, reduce or change network spending, limiting demand for mobile equipment.
- Competition and execution: Nokia must keep its product roadmaps and costs competitive in markets where customers have alternatives.
- Supply constraints: Component availability and wider supply-chain disruption can affect delivery and costs.
- Restructuring and reporting changes: Accelerated restructuring weighed on reported Q2 profitability, while discontinued-operation presentation changed the stated 2026 outlook range.
Nokia’s full-year 2025 release reported EUR 2.0 billion in comparable operating profit and flat full-year Mobile Networks sales. Those historical figures offer context, but the old Mobile Networks label covers a different reporting perimeter from the current Mobile Infrastructure segment. Nokia Q4 and full-year 2025 results
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How to judge Nokia’s progress from here
A useful test is to track whether Nokia converts demand into durable profit, rather than treating one growth rate or product announcement as proof of redemption. The most relevant signals are:
- Whether Mobile Infrastructure can sustain sales growth and improve profit, not just benefit from a period of 5G spending.
- Whether Network Infrastructure delivers growth and moves toward its stated 2028 margin target.
- Whether comparable operating profit progresses from the 2026 outlook toward the 2028 target, while reported results also improve as restructuring proceeds.
- Whether AI & Cloud demand and Nokia’s AI-native, Open RAN and 6G initiatives produce customer adoption and profitable business.
Nokia’s newsroom scheduled its Q3 2026 results for 22 October 2026, after the publication date of the Q2 report. Those results will provide another checkpoint, not a verdict by themselves. Nokia newsroom
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