There’s not much to cheer about in third-quarter results from mobile phone giant Nokia that included an unexpected net loss of $834 million — the first since the Finnish company started reporting quarterly results in 1996 — and a nearly 20 percent decline in revenues year-over-year. That’s $3.62 billion less on the top line for the quarter. Investors were certainly in no mood to celebrate: By day’s end in Helsinki trading, Nokia shares were down nearly 11 percent, to 9.18, and they fell even more in New York. But Nokia’s bleak quarterly report issued Oct. 15 contained some important nuggets of hope. To start with, the company actually did somewhat better than many analysts had predicted. Overall revenues of 9.81 billion were slightly ahead of Wall Street consensus estimates, according to brokerage RBC Capital Markets. And tight cost controls allowed the world’s largest mobile handset maker to turn in better-than-expected earnings before interest and taxes [EBIT] of 741 million, vs.

consensus of 702 million. As a result, Nokia’s earnings per share, represented via non-IFRS [International Financial Reporting Standards] accounting, came in at 0.17, compared with an expected 0.13. Operating cash flow was 720 million, or more than $1 billion, in the quarter. The 0.15 per share net loss under IFRS rules owed to restructuring charges, goodwill writedowns, amortization of intangible assets, and other impairments that added up to 1.167 billion. Better-Than-Expected Handset Sales The financial balancing act wasn’t enough to satisfy some doubters. “Investors want to see more top-line performance and less performance through cutting operating costs,” says Tavis McCourt, an analyst with investment bank Morgan Keegan, a unit of Regions Financial. But beyond the specifics of the quarter, Nokia saw several positive trends in underlying sales performance. Its quarterly volume of 108.5 million handsets topped expectations by nearly 3 million units, and its average…

Go here to read the rest: 
Nokia: Rays of Hope Amid the Gloom