Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, mobile handset giant Nokia
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Nokia's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Nokia facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Espoo, Finland (1865) |
| Market Cap | $34.1 billion |
| Industry | Communications equipment |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $57.26 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Stephen Elop (since 2010) CFO Timo Ihamuotila (since 2009) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 11.1% |
| Cash/Debt | $17.07 billion / $7.12 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 6.2% |
| Competitors |
Apple
Google
Research In Motion |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 9% of the 2,781 members who have rated Nokia believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include All-Stars jhaw and HollywoodDan, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.
Late last year, jhaw wrote that Nokia's best days are far behind it:
Nokia has already lost the smart phone market to Apple and Android. ... They are a classic example of a large and once dominating company that has lost touch with the market is too inflexible to adapt. I think the business results will only get worse with time.
Over the next five years, Nokia is even expected to grow profits at a rate of just 6.6% annually. That's substantially slower than main smart phone rivals Apple (20.5%), Google (18.3%), and Research In Motion (21.5%).
CAPS All-Star HollywoodDan elaborates on the bear case:
Optimism for this sucker is ridiculous. Have to applaud the CEO for honesty and realizing the "platform is burning." But the platform is burning. Too many companies out there with platforms that aren't on fire. The 1-2 punch of Apple and Android, backed up by two of the great companies in tech is too much for anyone to bear. Long way to fall too. Having an outsider change the corporate culture of a behemoth like this is a way tall order. I root for the CEO for his honesty, but very confident I'll bank some accuracy [CAPS points] off this one.
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