The Helsinki Stock Exchange began trading on Friday with a decline, but the trend quickly shifted to a clear rise. By the end of the day, the general index had climbed 0.7 percent, reaching 9,838 points. The most actively traded stock of the day was Nordea, which had announced its results just one day prior. On Friday, Nordea’s stock closed up 1.4 percent after reporting strong earnings for Q1. Nokia was also among the most actively traded stocks, closing up 2.5 percent despite its first-quarter figures not meeting expectations as well as analysts had predicted.
The telecom operator Elisa saw significant growth on Friday after announcing its earnings and gaining a 4.4 percent increase in stock price. Although Elisa’s operating profit in Q1 fell slightly short of analyst expectations, the company maintained its revenue and EBITDA targets for 2024. Several other companies announced their Q1 results on Friday as well, including Middle Soul, Morning, and QPR Software. Alma Media’s results were slightly below analyst expectations but its stock remained unchanged while Gofore experienced slower growth compared to previous quarters causing its stock to close down by 3.9 percent.
QPR Software reported positive operating results for the first time since 2019 and saw a slight decrease in stock price by 8.5 percent while Ponsse lowered its guidance for 2024 and Valoe secured funding for a restructuring program through issuing new shares at a discounted price of €6 per share from an original price of €7 per share which caused some adjustment in target prices and recommendations for different companies by various analysts throughout the market.
Overall, the Helsinki Stock Exchange experienced mixed results on Friday as investors adjusted their expectations based on individual company performances and updates to guidance from several firms operating within Finland’s business landscape.
During the day, several other companies such as Alma Media and Gofore also released their financial statements with mixed results impacting their respective stocks prices negatively or positively depending on their performance compared to analyst expectations.
In conclusion, despite some initial declines in stock prices at the beginning of trading hours on Friday at Helsinki Stock Exchange , it quickly rebounded with some positive gains due to good financial performance by some companies such as Nordea and Elisa while others like QPR Software saw improvement in their financial performance resulting in adjustments of target prices and recommendations by various analysts throughout the market .