SAP Executives Come Out Fighting as Shares Slump on Growth
- Increase in new cloud orders was the slowest in over a year
- Profit margins were flat as trade tensions hit sales in Asia
This article is for subscribers only.
SAP SE fell the most in nearly five years on signs that its $10 billion bet on cloud-based software faces headwinds, but the companies executives are adamant there is still room to grow.
After buying U.S. startups Qualtrics International Inc. and Callidus Software Inc. to bolster its portfolio, SAP instead posted slower growth in new cloud bookings -- a keenly watched metric because it indicates future revenue. With profitability diluted by the shift to internet-based computing, a push to shore up margins failed to make progress in the second quarter.