Nokia Corporation Report for Q2 and Half Year 2025
Solid performance offset by currency impact
Q2 comparable net sales declined 1% y-o-y on a constant currency and portfolio basis (2% reported) due to a 13% decline in Mobile Networks which had benefited from accelerated revenue recognition in the prior year. Network Infrastructure grew 8% while Cloud and Network Services grew 14%. Nokia Technologies grew 3%.
Comparable gross margin in Q2 was flat y-o-y at 44.7% (reported increased 10bps to 43.4%). Gross margins were broadly stable in Network Infrastructure and Mobile Networks and improved in Cloud and Network Services.
Q2 comparable operating margin decreased 290bps y-o-y to 6.6% (reported up 790bps to 1.8%), driven by a negative EUR 50 million venture fund impact which includes a EUR 60 million negative currency revaluation. Operating profit was also impacted by tariffs.
Q2 comparable diluted EPS for the period of EUR 0.04; reported diluted EPS for the period of EUR 0.02.
Q2 free cash flow of EUR 0.1 billion, net cash balance of EUR 2.9 billion.
As announced on 22 July 2025, full year 2025 comparable operating profit outlook revised to between EUR 1.6 and 2.1 billion (was between EUR 1.9 and 2.4 billion) with free cash flow conversion from comparable operating profit unchanged at between 50% and 80%.
This is a summary of the Nokia Corporation Report for Q2 and Half Year 2025 published today. Nokia only publishes a summary of its financial reports in stock exchange releases. The summary focuses on Nokia Group's financial information as well as on Nokia's outlook. The detailed, segment-level discussion will be available in the complete financial report hosted at www.nokia.com/financials. Investors should not solely rely on summaries of Nokia's financial reports and should also review the complete reports with tables.
JUSTIN HOTARD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ON Q2 2025 RESULTS
In the following quote, net sales comments and growth rates are referring to comparable net sales and are on a constant currency and portfolio basis.
During my first quarter as CEO, I’ve spent significant time engaging with our stakeholders. One message has stood out: Connectivity is becoming a critical differentiator in the AI supercycle, not only for communication service providers and hyperscalers, but also for new areas like defense and national security. With our portfolio in mobile and fiber access, data center, and transport networks, Nokia is uniquely positioned to be a leader in this market transition. Customer conversations have increased my optimism about our opportunity: There’s been a strong validation of what sets us apart – our technology, partnering culture, and the exceptional talent of our people.
At the same time, our customers expect us to engage with them as one integrated company as they partner with us across our portfolio. Further it is clear we need to continue to evolve how we work so we move faster, improve productivity and focus on what brings value to our customers. As a result, we’re unifying our corporate functions to simplify how we work, build a more cohesive culture and begin to unlock operating leverage.
We have a great opportunity to drive a unified vision for the future of networks, and I am looking forward to discussing our strategy and full value creation story at our Capital Markets Day in New York on November 19.
Turning to our second quarter results, the significant currency fluctuations, particularly the weaker USD, had a meaningful impact on both our net sales and operating profit. On a constant currency and portfolio basis our overall net sales declined 1%, however excluding a settlement benefit in the prior year, sales would have grown 3%. Network Infrastructure grew 8% in Q2. Mobile Networks’ net sales declined 13%, primarily related to the aforementioned prior year settlement benefit and also due to project timing in India. Cloud and Network Services grew 14% with strong momentum in 5G Core. Nokia Technologies grew 3% and secured several new agreements in the quarter.
Q2 comparable gross margin was stable year-on-year at 44.7%. Operating profit in the quarter was impacted by a non-cash negative impact to venture funds of EUR 50 million which included a EUR 60 million negative currency revaluation and the effect of tariffs we highlighted in Q1, contributing to our comparable operating margin declining 290 bps to 6.6%. Despite the cash impact of 2024 incentives during Q2, we had a strong cash performance and have generated free cash flow of over EUR 800 million in the first half.
Q2 saw continued strong order momentum in Optical Networks with a book-to-bill well above 1, driven by new hyperscaler orders. We had several key wins in the quarter, including a deal with a large US communication service provider along with receiving our first award for 800G pluggables from a US hyperscaler. Across the group, Nokia generated 5% of sales in Q2 from hyperscalers. While we still have a lot of work ahead of us, I’m pleased with the progress we are making integrating Infinera, including executing on synergies. Additionally, the commercial momentum we are seeing reinforces the long-term value creation opportunity of the acquisition.
Looking ahead we expect a stronger second half performance, particularly in Q4 consistent with normal seasonality. For the full year, the underlying business is trending largely as expected. We continue to expect strong growth in Network Infrastructure, growth in Cloud and Network Services and largely stable net sales in Mobile Networks on a constant currency and portfolio basis. In Nokia Technologies we expect approximately EUR 1.1 billion in operating profit.
However, we are facing two headwinds to our full year operating profit outlook which are outside of our control, currency due to the weaker US Dollar, and tariffs. Currency has an approximately EUR 230 million negative impact relative to our expectations at the start of the year with EUR 90 million from non-cash venture fund currency revaluations. The current tariff levels are forecasted to impact operating profit by EUR 50 million to EUR 80 million inclusive of those in Q2. Considering these two headwinds, we decided it was prudent at this point to lower our comparable operating profit outlook to a range of EUR 1.6 billion to EUR 2.1 billion from the prior range of EUR 1.9 billion to EUR 2.4 billion.
Justin Hotard
President and CEO
Source: https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/nokia-corporation-report-for-q2-and-half-year-2025/
