SAP (NYSE:SAP) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailySAP SE (NYSE:SAP – Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $163.25, but opened at $175.10. SAP shares last traded at $173.2120, with a volume of 1,643,345 shares.
The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.21 billion. SAP had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 19.92%.SAP’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share.
SAP Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a $2.9291 dividend. This is an increase from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.54. This represents a yield of 175.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. SAP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.10%.
SAP News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting SAP this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed robust cloud growth (cloud revenue +27% cc) and a 25% increase in current cloud backlog, supporting the company’s recurring revenue story. SAP Quarterly Statement Q1 2026
- Positive Sentiment: Operating profit rose ~17% in Q1 as cloud demand remained resilient, reinforcing margin strength in the face of macro uncertainty. SAP reports 17% rise in first-quarter profit (Reuters)
- Positive Sentiment: Major business press highlighted cloud resilience and called the quarter a reassurance that SAP can weather AI-related and geopolitical risks, which supports the long-term investment thesis. SAP Shares Climb on Cloud Business Resilience (WSJ)
- Neutral Sentiment: CEO commentary emphasizes SAP’s AI positioning and go-to-market strategy — positive for medium-term narrative but not an immediate catalyst. SAP CEO interview (CNBC)
- Neutral Sentiment: Coverage-roundups and earnings transcripts provide detail for investors to dig into guidance and backlog dynamics; useful for fundamentals but mixed in directional impact. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
- Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets ahead of/after the print and BMO lowered its target from $210 to $200 (still “outperform”), which likely weighed on the stock despite the beat. (BMO update: target cut to $200)
- Negative Sentiment: Total revenue missed the street by a small margin ($11.19B vs. $11.21B), and several outlets noted analysts trimming targets — prompting profit-taking after recent gains. SAP earnings summary (MarketBeat)
- Negative Sentiment: Broader software-sector weakness and a recent pullback in the group pressured SAP despite company-specific positives, amplifying the down move. SAP Stock Rebounds From Software Slump After Earnings (Barron’s)
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
SAP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on SAP from $283.00 to $256.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. HSBC raised SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lowered SAP from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp lowered SAP from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of SAP in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.75.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SAP
Institutional Investors Weigh In On SAP
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAP. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of SAP by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,961 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 1.0% in the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 14.2% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 338 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 740 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 1.0% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,495 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter.
SAP Price Performance
The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.38. The company has a market cap of $212.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.
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.