Joachim Gunell

Joachim Gunell asked for a breakdown of the Q1 strength in North America, questioning how much was due to pre-buy effects and whether a shift to more service-heavy rollouts in H2 2025 could become a drag on gross margins.

Answer

CFO Lars Sandstrom stated that while a gradual product mix shift is expected in H2, the Q1 margin strength was not isolated to North America but was a broad-based improvement across all segments and regions. He credited this to sustained cost and productivity initiatives. CEO Börje Ekholm reinforced that the underlying operational improvements are more critical to margin performance than geographic mix.

Joachim Gunell from DNB asked about Ericsson's pattern of conservative gross margin guidance and whether it stems from a visibility issue. He also inquired about the company's capital allocation preference (dividends, buybacks, or M&A) following the iconectiv sale.

Answer

CFO Lars Sandstrom attributed the better-than-guided margin performance to cost-out and supply chain improvements materializing faster than forecasted. On capital allocation, CEO Börje Ekholm stated it is a decision for the Board and shareholders, but acknowledged the company's strong financial position provides options.

Joachim Gunell of DNB inquired about the current sales levels in India and the U.S. relative to what Ericsson considers 'normalized,' and also asked for an opinion on the component availability for its Chinese competitors.

Answer

CEO Börje Ekholm assessed that India's sales have now returned to a more normalized level, while the U.S. market remains at the lower end of a normal investment cycle. Regarding competitors, he deferred on specifics but noted their aggressive market behavior suggests they are not constrained by component availability.

Joachim Gunell inquired about the financial impact of delivery slippages from Q4 into Q1, the rationale behind the current inventory levels, customer sentiment on cybersecurity spending for 2025, and the market traction of the new enrollment suites with Okta and Microsoft.

Answer

Executive Mattias Danielsson explained that year-end delivery delays are not uncommon as customers manage budgets and rollout schedules. He noted this has a direct impact on profitability, as costs are incurred before revenue is recognized, but declined to quantify the amount. He stated the inventory increase was a temporary result of these delayed shipments and that the company sees strong market tailwinds for cybersecurity. He also clarified that the new enrollment suites are not yet significant revenue contributors.

Joachim Gunell inquired about Nokia's 2025 guidance, questioning the visibility for the year and asking for specifics on the Mobile Networks gross margin outlook, noting it appeared to be the main driver of deviation from consensus.

Answer

CEO Pekka Lundmark responded that visibility for 2025 is significantly better than the previous year, supported by a growing order backlog. While not providing explicit sales figures, he reiterated expectations for strong growth in Network Infrastructure, growth in Cloud and Network Services, and stable sales in Mobile Networks despite a known customer headwind. He noted the underlying Mobile Networks gross margin was 38-39% in 2024 and that the 2025 figure would depend on regional dynamics.

Joachim Gunell from DNB Markets questioned the Q4 bookings outlook against tough comparables, the potential impact of Microsoft Entrust's FIDO2 adoption, and Yubico's capital allocation strategy regarding M&A. He also followed up on the implied increase in average selling price per key based on reported unit sales.

Answer

CEO Mattias Danielsson expressed optimism for continued growth in Q4, citing broad-based market trends, despite challenging comparables from the prior year. He confirmed that Microsoft's FIDO2 enablement is a positive development that will make Yubico's solution easier to implement. Regarding capital, Danielsson reiterated the policy of reinvesting for growth, either organically or through strategic acquisitions, rather than paying dividends. He also clarified that while there is a long-term trend of customers buying higher-value keys, the "keys sold" number in the presentation is illustrative and shouldn't be used for precise ASP calculations.