Nokia shares fall on concerns over potential loss of Verizon business

(Reuters) – Shares in Nokia fell 8% in Wednesday morning trade on concerns that the Finnish company was losing the business of its key client Verizon in the United States.

Overnight, JP Morgan downgraded Nokia to “neutral” from “overweight”, citing a potential loss of business with Verizon.

“We believe that there is a real risk Verizon will depend less on Nokia as their primary RAN (radio access network) supplier going forward,” JPM said in a note.

Nokia said it continued to work with Verizon in 5G.

“Nokia is proud to serve Verizon, and we are committed to continuing to help them build the best, most reliable and highest performing network,” Nokia spokesman said.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki in Tallinn and Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens)