Nokia’s Corp. 17% quarter-over-quarter growth in global mobile device units for the fourth quarter demonstrates new-found market share gains in smartphones that appear sustainable. But it still has plenty of work to do and competition has never been this tough.
The company’s quarterly results beat expectations across the board, with revenues of €12-billion coming in ahead of the street’s €11.5-billion forecast. Device revenues also beat analyst forecasts on the back of higher unit sales, while Nokia Siemens Networks also performed well. However, Nokia’s bottom line beat was primarily the result of a one-time gross margin benefit and tax differentials.
Most of its new models are not slated until the spring or summer, which implies that the company may see an air pocket during the second quarter, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue.
Nonetheless, he noted that Nokia’s execution was strong during the quarter, with the company’s size and scope enabling it to procure the extra components to ship the extra units and gain share.
RBC rates the stock Outperform with a US$16 price target.
Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek is slightly less optimistic, rating Nokia a Hold with a US$15 target smartphones.
“We continue to believe that, in the long term, Nokia will be hampered by market share erosion in high-end devices and margin pressure in the lower-end segment,” he told clients. “While the company is still a leading global cell phone manufacturer, it faces severe competition in the high-end smartphone segment from the likes of RIM, Apple and Android-based device vendors.”
Nokia's challenges have not deterred everyone on the street, as the vote of confidence from portfolio managers at Beutel, Goodman & Co. Ltd. demonstrates.
“One of the things that North Americans don’t tend to realize, is that while Nokia doesn’t have a big presence here, it has a big presence everywhere else,” Beutel’s Ehren Mendum told the Financial Post. “They are the biggest manufacturer of handsets, with a broad spectrum from entry level all the way up to smartphones, and they are the biggest manufacturer of smartphones in the world.”
The company has 60% of the market in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, along with a great distribution network in Africa.
“We think over the long term they should benefit from the continued penetration in those markets and trading up as well as people get higher-end phones and economies grow,” the manager added.