SAP Shares Jump After 2Q Profit, Revenue Beat Consensus Estimates

By Mauro Orru

SAP SE's shares jumped Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected preliminary figures for the second quarter.

The German software company said late Wednesday that non-IFRS operating profit for the second quarter rose 8% to 1.96 billion euros ($2.22 billion), with an operating margin of 29.1%.

At 0742 GMT, SAP shares traded 6.8% higher at EUR137.50, making it the top performer in Germany's DAX index. The shares are up 14% in 2020 to-date.

Analysts at U.S. bank Citi said SAP's operating margin was well ahead of Citi's estimated 26.3% and consensus projections of 27.5%, due to slower hiring, lower discretionary spending and events costs which also affected other companies as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

SAP reported a 1% rise in non-IFRS total revenue to EUR6.74 billion, with software licenses revenue down 18% to EUR770 million and cloud revenue up 19% to EUR2.04 billion.

Analysts at U.S. bank Jefferies said revenue came in higher than consensus estimates of EUR6.5 billion, as did software licenses revenue against projections of EUR570 million.

SAP also reiterated its outlook for 2020, expecting operating profit to be in a range of EUR8.1 billion to EUR8.7 billion at constant currencies, and total revenue in a range of EUR27.8 billion to EUR28.5 billion at constant currencies.

"With SAP's 2Q revenue and operating profit ahead of Street estimates, the bar for achieving its 2020 guidance has effectively been lowered," Jefferies analysts said, adding that "2020 guidance implies a gradually improving demand environment throughout the year, which we view as achievable by the company."

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 09, 2020 04:01 ET (08:01 GMT)

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