SAP (NYSE:SAP) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

SAP (NYSE:SAP) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The software maker reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.13, Zacks reports. SAP had a net margin of 19.50% and a return on equity of 15.69%.

Here are the key takeaways from SAP’s conference call:

• Strong 2025 financials — SAP beat its outlook on operating profit and cash flow, delivered cloud revenue +26% and said Q4 was the year’s best bookings quarter.
• AI and Business Data Cloud are driving deals — Management said BDC exceeded €2bn of order entry since launch and that roughly two‑thirds of large deals include AI, citing wins at H&M and Fresenius as proofs of value.
• Near‑term backlog / CCB timing risk — Current cloud backlog grew more slowly (≈25%) and management flagged a deal mix skewed to very large, sovereign/complex transactions that lengthen ramping and reduce near‑term CCB contribution.
• Cash strength and shareholder returns — FY2025 free cash flow was ~€8.2bn, management guides to ~€10bn for 2026 and announced a new €10bn two‑year share buyback while keeping the option open for targeted AI/data M&A.

SAP Stock Performance

SAP traded down $36.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.29. The stock had a trading volume of 6,960,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,377,133. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. SAP has a twelve month low of $195.12 and a twelve month high of $313.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SAP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of SAP in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of SAP in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SAP currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $280.20.

Key Headlines Impacting SAP

Here are the key news stories impacting SAP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on profit and solid cloud traction: SAP reported Q4 non‑IFRS EPS above consensus and reiterated resilient cloud demand and strong full‑year cloud revenue growth — evidence that core operations remain healthy. MarketBeat Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Share buyback announced: management unveiled a new €10 billion repurchase program, which supports capital return and offsets dilution — a clear shareholder-friendly move. PR Newswire Quarterly Statement
• Neutral Sentiment: Full disclosure available: the Q4 press conference transcript and slide deck are published for investors who want detail on bookings, backlog accounting and FY26 assumptions. Press Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Cloud backlog disappointed versus expectations: the headline driver of the selloff was weaker‑than‑expected growth in the cloud contract backlog for Q4, which raised doubts about near‑term SaaS revenue visibility. Proactive: Cloud Backlog Disappointment
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious 2026 cloud outlook and AI competition fears: management’s conservative tone on future cloud growth, combined with post‑earnings weakness at other software names (ServiceNow) amplified investor fears about AI‑era competition and margin pressure. Reuters: AI Competition Fears
• Negative Sentiment: Operational and sentiment risks: reports of executive dismissals related to alleged stolen trade secrets and a notable rise in short interest increase headline risk and could exacerbate volatility. Seeking Alpha / Related Coverage

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAP. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 130.9% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 2,357,225 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $629,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,325 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of SAP by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,650,418 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $805,992,000 after purchasing an additional 973,779 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its stake in SAP by 1,126.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 842,416 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $225,102,000 after buying an additional 773,720 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in SAP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,963,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in SAP by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 124,322 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $37,806,000 after buying an additional 91,781 shares during the last quarter.

About SAP

SAP SE is a global enterprise software company headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. Founded in 1972 by five former IBM engineers, the company’s name is an acronym for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung (Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing). SAP develops and sells software and services that help organizations manage business processes across finance, human resources, procurement, manufacturing, supply chain and customer relationships.

SAP’s product portfolio spans on‑premises and cloud offerings, anchored by its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions such as SAP S/4HANA and the SAP HANA in‑memory database and platform.