SAP shrugs off fears of AI eating software with big earnings beat
Enterprise software giant SAP SE’s stock inched up in late trading today after it shook off concerns that its business might become a victim of the artificial intelligence boom by posting solid results in its latest earnings report.
The strong numbers posted by SAP today suggest that AI tools that can automate some kinds of business work and processes aren’t yet replacing its software, which spans cloud services and operating systems for large enterprises.
The company reported second-quarter earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of €1.89 ($2.15) per share, surpassing Wall Street’s consensus estimate of €1.68 by a wide margin. Meanwhile, SAP’s revenue increased 11% from the same period one year ago, to €9.88 billion, beating the €9.85 billion analyst target.
Those numbers helped SAP post an operating profit of €4.16 billion in the quarter, up from a profit of just €3.54 billion one year ago. Investors liked what they saw, and SAP’s American depository receipts gained more than 2% in the after-hours trading session.
