SAP Investors Mark Time as Earnings Day Nears and Austerity Measures Deepen
Published on 07/05/2026 at 14:41 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The quiet period at SAP has locked the company’s management into silence, leaving the stock to drift on technical signals and lingering questions about whether a sweeping cost-cutting drive is financing AI ambitions or masking margin weakness. Shares closed Friday at €139.32, extending a year-to-date decline of roughly 31% and leaving the equity nearly 48% below the record high set last July.
Behind the price slide lies a double blow: a sharpening of internal austerity measures and a slowdown in the core cloud business. The software giant has frozen most non-AI hiring, halted all travel unrelated to artificial intelligence, and begun scrutinising spending on external suppliers. JPMorgan interprets the moves not as a sign of discipline but as pressure on margins, while Goldman Sachs has trimmed its profitability forecasts. The broker now expects the gross margin for the second half of 2026 to come in at 72.8%, down from an earlier estimate of 73.3%. Despite the downbeat view, both banks maintain buy ratings on the stock, citing the strength of SAP’s AI product pipeline.
Cloud growth, the engine the company is betting on, faces a fresh hurdle. A large regional customer is expected to scale back its activities in the current quarter, which analysts say will drag on the cloud revenue momentum that opened the year on solid footing. In the first quarter, the cloud order backlog rose 20% on a nominal basis to €21.9 billion, or 25% after adjusting for currency effects. Earnings per share for that period reached €1.66. For the second quarter, analyst projections cluster in a range of €1.94 to €2.01.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SAP?
The acquired Reltio business, a master-data specialist bought last May, is expected to feed into SAP’s AI strategy. Investors will press management on whether any early synergies are already embedded in the second-half outlook when results are released on July 23.
Chart watchers see a nervous standoff. The stock is hovering just above a support zone around €135; a break below that floor would reopen the path to the 52-week low of €130.80. On the upside, the 50-day moving average at €146.45 caps any immediate relief, and a sustained climb above €147 would be needed to signal a genuine shift in sentiment. Until the earnings report lands, day-to-day volatility is likely to be driven by U.S. economic data rather than company-specific news.
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