Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) shares are still a buy according to analysts at SEB, although like the analysts at Goldman Sachs, they have lowered their target price for the stock slightly. In a report issued to investors today, they previewed the company’s upcoming earnings report, which will be out on Thursday.
SEB analysts pushed their target price for Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) shares from €4 to €3.80 per share. Of course the focus will be on sales of the high-end Nokia Lumia handsets, including volumes and average selling price. The mid-range Lumia 520, 620 and 720 handsets were not rolled out until after the high-end models, so we should see more indications of how well they are selling in Nokia’s second quarter results.
Analysts are looking for sales of 5.6 million Lumia units with an average selling price of €190. They’re also expecting the company’s net cash position to decline from €4.36 billion to €3.7 billion. Currently consensus for Nokia’s first quarter is in line with the company’s earlier guidance.
SEB analysts have lowered their clean earnings before interest and taxes estimate by 17 percent to €1.1 billion for this year and 4 percent to €1.8 billion for next year. They said their revisions are for lower Lumia volumes for this year and an expected slower ramp-up during the first quarter.
They also lowered their average selling prices for 2013 to 2015 by 3 to 6 percent as they pushed Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) toward a greater mix including the new mid-range handsets.
At the moment of this writing, shares of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) were down 3.72 percent at the New York Stock Exchange.
