The Finnish telecommunications equipment supplier Nokia had to announce an unpleasant message last Friday: The company is expected to be unable to achieve its financial goals for the year 2023. The negotiations for license renewals at Nokia Technologies are taking longer than expected and are now expected to be completed in 2024.

This will have a negative impact on net revenue, comparable operating margin, and free cash flow, all of which will be below previous forecasts. However, Nokia shares were trading higher on the first day of the year, indicating a certain calmness in the market.

The stocks of Nokia traded in the positive on the first trading day of the year, despite the new financial goals, which certainly gave the company a little boost. However, not everything should be seen as negative, as the focus on long-term value gain through negotiations on intellectual property rights (IPR) could pay off in the long run. The Citi analysts interpret Nokia's announcement as a sign that the company has decided to prioritize long-term value over short-term expectations.

Even a market participant is not surprised by Nokia's profit warning: "The news doesn't come out of nowhere," he says. The company was unable to present preliminary financial results due to ongoing negotiations, but the quarterly results are expected to be significantly better than the previous quarter. However, the results will continue to be impacted by customer spending restrictions.

The bad news did not come as a surprise to the market, as Nokia had already lowered its outlook for operating margin in early December. It is expected that Nokia's share of AT&T's revenue will decrease in the coming years, as the US telecommunications provider has signed a lucrative contract with Swedish competitor Ericsson. The timing of this decision was extremely unfavorable for Nokia, as the company was already struggling with weak financial numbers.

In the third quarter, Nokia confirmed the outlook for the full year despite ongoing difficulties. However, this would have required a strong fourth quarter, particularly in terms of expected license payments from patent disputes, which were seen by LBBW analysts as crucial to the company's success.

In response to the AT&T decision, Citigroup analysts have downgraded their recommendation for Nokia shares to "sell." Although Nokia shares are currently valued favorably, the analysts fear that the pressure on the stock will increase with continued negative estimates.