Nokia’s AI Data Center Push in Cambodia and Laos Clashes With a 22% Monthly Stock Slide Ahead of Earnings

Nokia is accelerating its transformation into an artificial-intelligence infrastructure specialist, forging a new partnership in Southeast Asia and expanding chip production in the United States. Yet the market reaction has been anything but supportive: the stock has lost more than a quarter of its value in the past month, leaving the recent strategic moves at odds with a brutal price correction.

The Finnish network gear maker has teamed up with infrastructure firm Comin Asia to build AI data centers in Cambodia and Laos. Nokia will supply the high-performance networking backbone, while Comin Asia handles on-the-ground construction. The choice of location hinges on electricity availability: Cambodia offers quickly accessible power markets, and Laos boasts surplus capacity that could turn the country into a regional hub for AI compute. Separately, Nokia is ramping up production of optical chips for AI networks at its U.S. facilities, adding to a roster of alliances already including Amazon Web Services and Databricks.

On the operational front, management is aiming for the upper half of its 2.0 to 2.5 billion euro operating profit target. Strong order intake in cloud and AI is driving the business, particularly in network infrastructure, where the growth forecast was recently raised to as much as 14%. The optics and IP networking segment is expected to deliver nearly 20% growth. By contrast, mobile infrastructure remains a drag: sales there are flat this year, and margins are projected to weaken in the current and upcoming quarters before staging a meaningful recovery toward year-end.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Nokia?

The disparity between fundamental progress and stock performance has widened dramatically. After a brief bounce on Friday — shares jumped 5.05% to €11.13 — the equity remains deep in correction territory. Over the past 30 days the stock has fallen roughly 22%, and the decline over the past month exceeds 26%. Year to date the shares are still up about 90% after earlier this year nearly doubling, but they now trade almost 30% below June’s record high. The technical picture is equally mixed: the stock sits comfortably below its 50-day moving average yet remains 48% above the 200-day line, highlighting the chasm between the long-term rally and the recent rout. The relative strength index has dropped to 37.8, signaling clear technical weakness.

All eyes now turn to July 23, when Nokia reports its second-quarter results. Investors will be looking for concrete order inflows from the AI business and confirmation that the network infrastructure acceleration is translating into higher revenue and margins. If the numbers deliver on management’s upbeat guidance, the June high could come back into play. If not, the violent swings that have defined recent trading are likely to persist.