"I'll tell you how I made a small fortune in the phone business. I started out with a large fortune. [Rim shot.] I don't get no respect, I'm telling you."
Nokia
Moody's then got around to dissing Nokia's credit rating on its short- and long-term debt to just one notch above junk territory, and that was before the official Q1 results -- a loss of $1.2 billion on sales that fell 29% from the same period last year.
Now it's Fitch's turn. That credit-ratings agency has downgraded Nokia's senior unsecured notes to "below investment grade," Fitch analyst Owen Fenton told Tech Crunch. "Nokia's profile is no longer commensurate with an investment grade rating," according to Fenton.
A concerned Nokia responded with a statement it hopes will inspire at least some confidence looking ahead. CFO Timo Ihamuotila wrote: "We are quickly taking action to position Nokia for future growth and success. Nokia will continue to increase its focus on lowering the company's cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position."
Nokia's partnering with Microsoft
That promise has not been dashed, but it's not getting much respect from at least one entity: "Fitch is currently not convinced that Nokia can attain this [a strong financial position] over the course of 18 months."
The Motley Fool has just released a free report called "The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution" that details a "hidden" component play inside mobile phones that is also a market leader in the exploding Chinese market. Hundreds of thousands have requested access to previous reports. You can access this one now -- it's free.