Nokia Stock Rises Overnight as Rosenblatt Calls It!Nokia Oyj Sponsored ADRBATS:NOKKalaGhaziNokia Corp. (NOK) shares moved higher overnight after Rosenblatt initiated coverage of the telecom equipment maker with a Buy rating and a $15 price target. That target implies roughly 55% upside from the stock’s last closing price, suggesting the firm sees a significant gap between where Nokia trades today and where it could be valued if investors begin to recognize its growing role in AI infrastructure. The overnight gain followed a difficult regular trading session. Nokia stock had fallen more than 13% during the day, logging its worst single-day decline since June. Despite that sharp selloff, the shares traded more than 1% higher overnight after Rosenblatt’s bullish initiation, indicating that the analyst note helped stabilize sentiment and drew attention to a part of Nokia’s business that may be underappreciated by the market. Rosenblatt Lauds Nokia’s AI Infrastructure Positioning Rosenblatt started coverage with a Buy rating and described Nokia as an “AI optical powerhouse” that is currently being valued like a traditional telecom company. In the firm’s view, Nokia is better positioned for the expansion of AI infrastructure than many investors currently recognize. The analyst argues that the market may still be looking at Nokia primarily through the lens of its legacy telecom equipment business, while overlooking the company’s growing importance in optical networking and other infrastructure layers tied to AI data-center buildouts. A central part of the bull case is Nokia’s growing role in optical networking. Optical networking is critical to moving large amounts of data quickly and efficiently across networks, and it becomes especially important as AI workloads increase demand for bandwidth, speed, and reliable connectivity. Rosenblatt highlighted that Nokia has captured meaningful business in “scale-across,” which is described as one of three optical networking fabrics. The firm considers that segment particularly valuable because equipment that becomes embedded into network designs can be difficult for customers to replace later. Once a vendor’s technology is designed into an infrastructure layer, switching costs can be high, creating a stickier revenue opportunity and a potential competitive advantage. That dynamic helps explain why Rosenblatt views Nokia’s optical business as strategically important. It is not simply about selling more hardware. It is about becoming part of the underlying architecture that AI-driven networks depend on. If Nokia can deepen its presence in those layers, it may benefit from long-lived deployments and recurring demand as customers expand capacity. Nokia’s Valuation Could Have Room to Rise Rosenblatt’s $15 price target assumes that Nokia currently derives roughly one-third of its infrastructure exposure from AI, with the remaining two-thirds coming from telecom. The analyst believes that mix could change substantially as investment in AI infrastructure remains elevated. If AI becomes a larger share of Nokia’s infrastructure business, the company’s earnings and revenue profile could begin to look less like a traditional telecom supplier and more like a key enabler of AI networking. That shift matters for valuation. Telecom equipment companies often trade at lower multiples because their markets are mature, competition is intense, and growth can be slow. AI infrastructure companies, by contrast, can command higher multiples because investors expect faster growth and greater strategic importance. Rosenblatt’s argument is that Nokia is currently caught in the middle: it has a “powerhouse AI optical franchise” but is still trading at a telco multiple. If the market begins to re-rate the stock toward an AI infrastructure valuation, the firm believes there could be room for more upside. For that reason, Rosenblatt describes its $15 price target as “potentially conservative.” The firm suggests that Nokia’s consistent shift toward AI could leave room for further revaluation if the company continues to win business and if AI-related demand remains strong. In other words, the target is not necessarily the ceiling. It reflects a view that Nokia’s business mix is changing, but it may not fully capture how much the mix could shift over time. Why the “Dark Horse” Label Fits Calling Nokia an AI optical dark horse captures the idea that the company may be overlooked by investors who associate it with traditional telecommunications rather than the AI infrastructure boom. Nokia is not typically grouped with the most prominent AI winners, yet Rosenblatt argues that its optical networking and scale-across capabilities give it a meaningful role in the infrastructure that supports AI. If that role grows, the market may need to reconsider how it values the company. At the same time, the stock’s recent volatility shows that sentiment remains fragile. The more than 13% regular-session decline before the overnight rebound indicates that investors are still sensitive to news, competitive pressures, and broader market conditions. Rosenblatt’s initiation provides a counterpoint, but it will ultimately be judged by whether Nokia can convert its AI infrastructure positioning into visible financial results. The Bottom Line Nokia shares rose overnight after Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $15 price target, implying 55% upside. The firm called Nokia an “AI optical powerhouse” trading at a potentially conservative valuation. Rosenblatt sees Nokia benefiting from its optical networking business, especially its scale-across position, and believes the company’s business mix could shift further toward AI as infrastructure demand remains strong. While the market still appears to value Nokia like a traditional telecom company, Rosenblatt argues that its AI optical franchise deserves more credit. The key question now is whether Nokia can prove that shift is durable enough to justify a higher multiple.