Shares in Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia fell to two-year lows today amid uncertainty over whether it will meet third quarter guidance after concerns raised by a number of brokerage reports.
Research notes from Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and Finnish investment banks Mandatum and Evli all cast doubt on whether the world's largest mobile phone maker could reach its goals given persistently weak telecoms market conditions.
Mandatum and Evli were the boldest, with both saying a Nokia earnings warning was likely as it looked set to miss its quarterly goals of nil to 5 per cent year-on-year sales growth.
"We feel that even though Nokia may still have the prerequisites to meet the Q3 EPS target, the top-line growth figure is likely to fall short of the guidance," Mandatum said in a research note dated August 16th.
"A profit warning before the Q3 results announcement (October 19th) is therefore more likely than we believed previously," Mandatum added.
The two Finnish brokerage notes come in the wake of research from Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, which said there were risks to Nokia's third quarter handset results due to suppliers indicating a slowdown in phone component shipments.
SSSB said it felt Nokia's Q3 EPS would be at the low end of the guidance range. Nokia officials declined to comment on the reports.
The Mandatum note, which comes as previous market talk of an earnings warning from Nokia had subsided, sent Nokia's share below 20 euros from levels over the psychological threshold.
Nokia shares were down 1.9 per cent at euro 19.60 euros this afternoon, in line with weakness seen in other Eurotech peers.