what is Ericsson's current stock price?

 

Before the market on October 21, affected by the third-quarter financial report, the US stock price of Swedish communication equipment giant Ericsson fell 15%, hitting a new low in nearly four years, at only $5.43/.

　　According to the financial report, driven by strong demand in the North American market, Ericsson's operating income in the third quarter was 68 billion Swedish kronor (about 6 billion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 21%, basically in line with market expectations.
　　However, Ericsson's third-quarter operating profit fell to SEK 7.1 billion ($633.05 million) from SEK 8.8 billion a year earlier, down 23.94% year-on-year, below analysts' average forecast of SEK 8.73 billion; 44% dropped to 41.4%, down 2.6 percentage points.
　　In response to the decline in profits, Ericsson explained in the financial report that the main reason was the increase in technology investment and the increase in corporate sales expenses and other factors. In July 2022, Ericsson acquired cloud communications vendor Vonage for about $6.2 billion, the largest acquisition in Ericsson's history, and this expense had a certain impact on third-quarter profits.
　　In addition, Christer Gardell, an institutional investor who holds a 5% stake in Ericsson, pointed out that Ericsson's performance in the quarter was very disappointing. The main problem was Ericsson's cloud and service business. "The losses here need to be dealt with quickly."
　Ericsson continued to respond in an external statement saying that sales in the cloud and services segment were affected by a decline in managed services and intellectual property revenue. The division's management team is working to reduce costs, but "the improvement in performance will be gradual".

　　Since the early stages of large-scale 5G projects are usually less profitable, telecom equipment companies often charge terminal manufacturers royalties to boost profits. In the past, mobile phone manufacturers usually paid 2.5-5 US dollars in patent fees to Ericsson, Nokia and other companies for each 5G mobile phone sold.

　　Ericsson's third-quarter royalties, however, fell by SEK 1.1 billion ($98.24 million) in the quarter due to disputes with companies such as Apple over patents. Similarly, another communications equipment maker Nokia's third-quarter patent revenue decreased by 62 million euros (about 60.67 million U.S. dollars), and the patent war severely dragged down the profit margins of the two companies and plummeted their share prices.

　　However, Ericsson Chief Financial Officer Carl Mellander said he is now looking for ways to save money and may consider cutting headcount, asset holdings and energy use. However, he said there are no clear plans for layoffs. Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm said the company will continue to take a proactive approach and examine cost reduction options. Ericsson is making a price adjustment amid rising inflation around the world.