Nokia has gone from (1) failed mobile phone powerhouse to (2) likely winner in one key technology transformation cycle to (3) a source of “juicy tendies” for Wall Street Bets traders. Five years ago, it would have been hard to guess what would have happened to Nokia stock (NOKIA) since the mid-2010s.
Wall Street Meme tells the story of this tech stock that has morphed from growth to value to meme – and that after fits and starts, still trades around pre-dot com bubble prices.
Nokia: an unlikely journey
In 2007, moments before Apple’s iPhone disrupted (or perhaps reinvented) the world of consumer mobile devices forever, Nokiacontrolled50% of the smartphone market. But the company’s fall from grace did not take long: Nokia accounted for less than 3% of the market by late 2012.
However, the Finnish growth story did not end there. Between 2016-2017, Nokia began drawing the attention of investors looking to bet on the 5G upgrade cycle that would likely start a couple of years later. The company’s network division had been struggling, but the management team believed in a turnaround as 5G infrastructure had to be built around the globe.
True to its roots, unfortunately,Nokia disappointed yet again. In 2019, the company warned that its recovery was in jeopardy, as competition with Ericsson and Huawei for 5G contracts became too fierce for Nokia to handle. The company’s dividend payment was slashed, and a restructuring process began.
Meme stock for a day
For the past five years, Nokia stock consistently traded between $3 and $5 per share, with the eventual spikes and dips in share price eventually correcting. The notable exception happened on January 27 of this year.
On that day, Nokia climbed to $6.55 per share, from only $3.87 two weeks earlier. The stock was “victim” of a bullish Wall Street Bets meme attack, around the time that short interest reached a five-year high of 60 million shares – fertile ground for a short squeeze.
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