What happened
A disappointing quarter and a series of analyst price-target cuts brought down Nokia's (NOK 0.22%) stock this week. The Finnish telecom, which once upon a time was the titan of the wireless telephony world, saw its share price wither by almost 14% over those days, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
So what
For its first quarter, Nokia reported that its net sales totaled just under 5.86 billion euros ($6.42 billion), which was 10% higher on a year-over-year basis. Net income went in the opposite direction, falling by 18% to 342 million euros ($375 million), or 0.06 euros ($0.07) per share.
Neither headline figure met analyst expectations. On average, the prognosticators following the stock were modeling 6.22 billion euros ($6.81 billion) on the top line and 0.08 euros ($0.09) per share for net income.
Nokia attributed its revenue growth to a 13% improvement in sales for its telecom company's network infrastructure offerings and its mobile networks. The latter's rise was due strongly to 5G deployments in India, a major international market.
Now what
In the wake of that double miss, several analysts cut their price targets on Nokia stock. Europe-headquartered lenders Deutsche Bank and Barclays both set their new levels at 5 euros ($5.48) per share -- down from 5.50 euros ($6.03) and 5.30 euros ($5.81), respectively. Deutsche Bank's Robert Sanders kept his buy recommendation intact, while Barclays' Simon Coles stood firm on his tag of equalweight (hold, in other words).
On our shores, Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold trimmed his level to $6 per share from the preceding $7, although he maintained his outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation.
