Espoo Sinkhole Claims Nokia Share Price
Nokia’s elusive recovery is playing havoc with the company’s share price.
With three cuts to its earnings projections in little more than a year, mounting layoffs, and sales of its new Lumia line of Windows Phone handsets falling short of forecasts amid stiff competition from Apple and Google, Nokia’s outlook is grim, to say the least. Little wonder, then, that investors are dragging its stock through the mud.
On Monday, Nokia’s shares fell more than 4 percent, slipping to $1.84 — a price they’ve not seen since 1996.
That’s a 16-year low.
Gruesome. And it’s likely to get worse before it gets better — if it gets better.
In June, Nokia issued its second profit warning in three months, and announced plans for a broad restructuring that will see it sack another 10,000 employees globally. So no one is expecting much from its second-quarter earnings when the company reports on July 19. Indeed, it’s quite clear from Nokia’s share price that investors have given up any hope for a 2012 recovery.
The big question now is not whether Nokia can reverse its ongoing deterioration, but if it can stop it at all.
As I’ve said before, if Nokia’s share price keeps falling, an acquirer like Microsoft could take out the company almost for free, or for a small premium, assuming that Nokia can, in its current state, demand one.