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The opinion of the SAP community, Internal Communication, MAG 23-12 / 24-01

SAP Is the Stock Market's Darling

What's going on with SAP? The mood in the community and among SAP customers is persistently bad, however the share price is going through the roof. It is reasonable to assume that shareholders and financial analysts know something that we in the SAP community do not. Here is one possible answer.
Peter M. Färbinger, E3 Magazine
December 27, 2023
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At the time this article was written, Friday, November 17, 2023, the SAP share price on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange stood at 137,22 EUR. This is the high for the year. Congratulations to SAP CEO Christian Klein and CFO Dominik Asam! But what are the reasons for this skyrocketed share price? What gold mine have Christian Klein and Dominik Asam uncovered?

The SAP community experienced a similar phenomenon this summer, when the share price rose to around 131 euros, only to fall again due to the general economic and news situation. In a call with investors and financial analysts, SAP CEO Christian Klein explained that innovations such as AI, machine learning, and green ledgers would only be available to SAP cloud customers. This struck a chord with analysts: AI and cloud are the buzzwords of the moment! Parallel to this "positive" news, SAP also announced it would acquire the start-up LeanIX. It always makes a good impression when an established company positions itself in the market with innovations from start-ups.

There are always reasons for ups and downs in the stock market. Shareholders see the effect and realizes the cause too late. For SAP's interim high in the summer of 2023, it was the AI/cloud announcement and the acquisition of LeanIX. Members of the SAP community were amazed at the share price development esepcially since the cloud-only announcement for AI and Green Ledger was met with such horror. At the DSAG Annual Conference 2023 in Bremen, Klein tried to backtrack and explain this radical approach. Applications with large amounts of data, such as AI, can only be handled in the cloud. The fact remains that there is a striking dissonance between customers' displeasure and criticism of SAP and analysts and investors' euphoria.

SAP's share price in Frankfurt is now 137 EUR, and the SAP community is once again asking itself: what have CEO Christian Klein and CFO Dominik Asam been telling investors and analysts? SAP is about to embark on another radical cost-cutting offensive. This time, not only the C-Level and sales will be affected, but all SAP employees. Dominik Asam wants to make substantial savings in development in particula, as there is little left to be gained in sales and marketing. Chief Marketing Officer Julia White reduced her tasks to almost nothing many months ago—even eliminating her own position. At SAP, she is now considered only a token woman; kept on because otherwise people would say that SAP is sexist.

Dominik Asam's radical and global savings plan is, of course, very well received by the stock market and investors. Irrespective of product innovations, employee satisfaction, and customer loyalty, the SAP share price rose to 137 EUR and could go even higher. Even the massive criticism currently being voiced by the SAP user association DSAG has not been able to slow down the rising share price. The numerous savings plans are increasing the contribution margin, which is good news for shareholders.

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Peter M. Färbinger, E3 Magazine

Peter M. Färbinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief E3 Magazine DE, US and ES (e3mag.com), B4Bmedia.net AG, Freilassing (DE), E-Mail: pmf@b4bmedia.net and Tel. +49(0)8654/77130-21


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