Moody's Returns Nokia to Investment Grade as AI Traffic Forecast Takes Shape
Published on 11/10/2026 at 19:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Nokia's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings were lifted from Ba1 to Baa3 by Moody's Ratings roughly a week ago, with the agency keeping a positive outlook on the Finnish telecom equipment maker. The upgrade, reported in the media, restores the company to investment-grade territory and cites momentum in artificial intelligence and cloud applications as the driving rationale. The shares were 0.2% lower at €7.32 on the day of the move.
The credit action landed in the middle of a choppy stretch for technology stocks. According to media reports, Nokia's shares recovered yesterday alongside the wider tech sector following the prior week's selloff, a decline that reports attributed largely to the industry backdrop and worries about the pace of AI investment. The improved credit rating did not shield the stock from those sector-driven swings.
A Traffic Forecast That Stretches to 2035
Nokia's report on global network traffic, published on 4 November, sketches the demand picture behind its AI positioning. The company projects that artificial intelligence will account for 44% of global data traffic by 2035, with total monthly volume climbing to almost 3,789 exabytes by then. Those figures are expectations, not current usage.
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The forecast carries specific operational implications. In Nokia's assessment, rising data transmission from users into the network, combined with the need for low latency, will require changes to network infrastructure. Traffic from autonomous AI agents could grow roughly 160-fold by 2035, while data generated by physical AI applications is seen rising 105-fold over the same period.
Hotwire Picks Nokia for North Carolina Build
On the order front, Hotwire Communications selected Nokia just over a week ago to construct a next-generation network in North Carolina designed to handle AI requirements. The IP network will carry traffic from AI applications as well as from enterprise and consumer users, built on Nokia's 7750 Service Router line, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2027.
Media reports also indicate Nokia is eyeing an entry into the market for optical connections used in AI applications. It remains unclear, according to those reports, whether optical solutions placed closer to the chip or integrated directly with it in a single package will prevail.
Treasury Shares Handed to Staff
Separately, Nokia said yesterday it transferred roughly 847,000 of its own shares free of charge to participants in its share-based compensation programs. Following the transfer, the company still held around 80.3 million treasury shares. The transaction involved issuing shares already held in treasury, and recipients paid nothing for them.
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