Cell phone-related exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been supported by stronger sales in the smartphone markets, but Nokia Corporation’s (NYSE: NOK) poor second-quarter performance puts into question the sector momentum.
- First Trust NASDAQ CEA Smartphone Index Fund (NYSEArca: FONE) is up 0.98%. NOK is 2.22%.
- Wireless HOLDRS (NYSEArca: WMH) is down 0.27%. NOK is 2.61%.
Nokia shares plunged around 17.5% during trading after the company stated that “multiple factors are negatively impacting” their sales targets, reports David Jolly for The New York Times. The cellphone company will be abandoning its 2011 profit projections as a result.
While the company outlook does not come as a surprise, Stuart Jeffrey, an analyst at Nomura International, is baffled by the magnitude of the decline in performance. Jeffrey also notes the particularly poor sales of Nokia phones that were utilizing Symbian technology.
Nokia downward revised its second-quarter sales in devices and services to “substantially below” its previously forecasted range of $8.8 billion to $9.5 billion.
The cell phone maker remains the world’s largest by unit sales, but the company has fallen to the No.2 position as measured by revenue generated from its cell phone market.
For more information on the smartphone industry, visit our telecommunications category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.