After a pretty good earnings report earlier this week Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) shares jumped in value. The company’s stock is trading at $7.60 per share at time of writing, and things are finally looking up for the firm, if the market is to be believed. According to a new Barclays report on the company, uncertainty should be eating into the valuation.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is in a period of transition. It’s getting ready to sell its mobile business to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and finally take its most famous business off of the books. Andrew M. Gardiner, who authored the Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) report, says that the company’s valuation is inherently flawed, and there is too much risk to think the company will perform well long term.
Uncertainty at Nokia
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) did a couple of things right in its most recent earnings report. The company showed better than expected profitability at Nokia Siemens Networks, the company managed to avoid burning cash in the period, Lumia sales were higher than ever before, and the company’s tax situation looks good over the medium term.
That doesn’t get rid of questions about what the company will look like in the longer term. Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) will rely on Nokia Siemens Networks for a lot of its growth going ahead. That business faces huge competition, and Nokia may not have the financial resources to keep up. Margins are likely to be pressured, and overall uncertainty pervades the business.
The Barclays analysts rate Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) at Equal Weight. Right now the company is valued fairly according to the analysis. There is no telling how the company will perform over the coming years, however, and that leads to skepticism from the analysts.
Nokia valuation
One of the most interesting parts of the Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) report on Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is their consideration about how the company is being valued. They call the sum of parts valuation they see being used by most investors “inherently flawed.” Nokia will likely trade along those lines until it removes the mobile division from its business.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) shares have risen by more than 9% so far this week. The company’s stock has almost doubled in value since the start of the year. The future is difficult to predict, making the company’s gains in recent weeks difficult to back up.
