The Nordic equity research data an analyst can trust is the data the companies publish themselves: interim and half-year reports, financial statements releases, annual reports in ESEF format and stock exchange releases on Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Stockholm. Every figure in a model should trace back to one of these documents, with its period and page.
We build our Nordic data from exactly these filings and link every figure to its page. This article sets out which source answers which question, how to use the reporting calendar, and how to compare peers fairly, with UPM-Kymmene, Stora Enso and Metsä Board as the worked example.
The primary sources of Nordic equity research data
Each document type has a different job. The table below shows what each one contains and when to use it.
| Source | What it contains | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Interim report or half-year report | Condensed IFRS statements, quarter and year-to-date columns, segment tables, CEO review, outlook | Latest quarter, segment trends, guidance |
| Financial statements release (Sweden: year-end report) | Fourth quarter and full-year figures, dividend proposal | Q4 figures, weeks before the annual report |
| Annual report (ESEF) | Audited consolidated statements, full notes, machine-readable tags | Audited annual figures, accounting policies, notes |
| Stock exchange release | Inside information, guidance changes, acquisitions, management changes | Events between reports |
Source: our summary of the disclosure documents published by companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Stockholm.
Secondary data, such as consensus figures or third-party summaries, is useful for context but should never replace the reported figure. When the two disagree, the filing wins.
Use the reporting calendar to know when figures change
Nordic companies announce their report dates in advance, and reporting clusters in a few weeks after each quarter end. On 28 October 2026, for example, our calendar listed Q3 2026 interim reports from Fortum Oyj and F-Secure Oyj on Nasdaq Helsinki and from Epiroc and Electrolux Professional on Nasdaq Stockholm, all on the same day.1
Two practical points follow. First, a peer comparison run in the middle of the season mixes companies that have reported Q3 with companies still on Q2, so record the period of each figure. Second, some companies publish only half-year reports with shorter business reviews for the first and third quarters, so a quarter without a full income statement is often the company's reporting choice. For how the US season is shaping up at the same time, see our note on the Q3 earnings season.
How to compare Nordic peers on a like-for-like basis
Same line, same name
Use the IFRS operating profit line for every company, or the adjusted figure for every company, never a mix. Adjusted measures differ by company.
Ratios across currencies
Helsinki peers mostly report in EUR, Stockholm peers mostly in SEK. Compare margins and returns directly; convert absolute figures only with a stated rate.
Same fiscal period
Line up periods by end date and keep discrete quarters apart from year-to-date figures printed in the same table.
Worked example: operating margins of three Nordic forest companies
UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPM), Stora Enso Oyj (STERV) and Metsä Board Oyj (METSB), all listed on Nasdaq Helsinki and reporting in EUR, make a clean peer set: same exchange, same currency, same accounting framework. The table below shows each company's operating margin for FY2023 to FY2025, computed as IFRS operating profit (ifrs-full:ProfitLossFromOperatingActivities) divided by revenue, both from the companies' ESEF filings, such as UPM-Kymmene's FY2025 annual report and Stora Enso's FY2025 annual report.
| Operating margin, % | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2025 revenue (EUR m) | FY2025 operating profit (EUR m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPM-Kymmene | 5.8 | 5.8 | 7.8 | 9,656 | 749 |
| Stora Enso | -3.4 | 1.0 | 10.1 | 9,326 | 942 |
| Metsä Board | 6.2 | 3.2 | -9.5 | 1,775.7 | -169.5 |
Source: UPM-Kymmene, Stora Enso and Metsä Board ESEF annual reports FY2023–FY2025. Margin = operating profit / revenue.234
Over three years the order changed completely. Stora Enso moved from an operating loss in FY2023 to the highest margin of the three in FY2025, while Metsä Board went from the highest margin in FY2023 to an operating loss of EUR 169.5 million in FY2025. A single-year screen would have missed both moves. The segment tables and CEO reviews in each company's reports explain what drove the change, and they are the next thing to read.
Bringing in a Nasdaq Stockholm forest company adds SEK figures. Keep the margin comparison as it is and show its revenue in SEK, rather than converting at one exchange rate for three years.
Reading tone alongside the numbers
Figures tell you what happened; the CEO review tells you how management reads it. Our CEO Barometer scores the CEO review in each interim and annual report on a 0–100 index across six themes, with every quote verified word for word against the report. It describes tone and does not predict share prices, but it is a consistent way to compare how peers talk about demand and profitability in the same quarter.
To run this kind of comparison in Claude or ChatGPT, see our guide to AI equity research tools. A prompt for the example above:
Using Clarifo, compare the operating margins of UPM-Kymmene, Stora Enso and Metsä Board for FY2023 to FY2025 from their annual reports, and cite the filing for each figure.
Search Nordic and US filings, open company pages and compare peers with every figure linked to the report page it came from.
- Clarifo reporting calendar, Nordic interim reports scheduled for 28 Oct 2026, retrieved 28 Oct 2026.
- UPM-Kymmene Oyj, annual reports FY2023–FY2025 (ESEF), consolidated income statement. FY2025 report page.
- Stora Enso Oyj, annual reports FY2023–FY2025 (ESEF), consolidated income statement. FY2025 report page.
- Metsä Board Oyj, annual reports FY2023–FY2025 (ESEF), operating result (ifrs-full:ProfitLossFromOperatingActivities) and revenue.
Not investment advice. Figures are based on data reported by the companies.