Raymond James Comments Move Shares Of Nokia Higher

Shares of Nokia NOK gapped higher in Monday's pre-market after Raymond James upgraded the company from Underperform to Market Perform.

Simon Leopold now covers the stock, following the completion of the Microsoft transaction. Two statements from Leopold include little change expected in wireless market share and no significant impact on the bottom line from small cells.

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Regarding small cells, Leopold writes, “Small cells are expected to grow by a CAGR of 26% between 2013 and 2018, according to Infonetics, but only reach 7% of total wireless equipment by 2018. By including small cells with the overall wireless equipment spending, the CAGR between 2013 and 2018 only improves by one percent to -5%, up from -6%.”

Lastly, the Raymond James note did emphasize that Nokia has a strong balance sheet.

Shares of Nokia were last trading at $7.91, two percent higher than Friday's closing price.