The world's biggest cellphone maker warned on January 27 of a grim start to 2011, but its shares quickly recovered their subsequent steep losses after Elop flagged a possible change of software strategy.
Yet he faces formidable challenges. Nokia has rapidly lost share in the higher-margin smartphone market to new entrants such as Apple Inc and it lost its No. 1 spot in the segment to products based on Google Inc's Android platform last quarter.
Its answer to the high-end competition, the MeeGo platform, is unproven and its workhorse Symbian software has lost its appeal to developers.
"Any change from current strategy would be positive for the share price ... Investors think Nokia should at least try out another platform. Nokia stock would rise 30 percent," said Canaccord analyst Michael Walkley.
After limiting its financial forecasts on January 27 to just the first quarter, Elop is also set to unveil longer-term forecasts on Friday.
