SAP AG, the Walldorf, Germany-based enterprise applications powerhouse, recently reported record financial first quarter results for 2025. The company’s performance was defined by record growth in nearly every metric. The company reported a staggering 60% yoy rise in profit. That growth was driven by double-digit growth in its cloud services and an expanding customer count. This historic boom comes amid deep quakes roiling the global economy that many firms are just beginning to read and respond to.
Measured by revenue, SAP saw an 11% jump — up to €9 billion — in the first quarter. The company’s operating profit received a significant lift from these sales, increasing 58% YoY when factoring for constant currency. SAP’s EPS went through the roof at 79%, increasing to €1.44 versus last year’s quarter. The company’s recent results have been bolstered by robust operational and financial performance – a focus for CEO Christian Klein.
SAP’s cloud backlog, considered by some as a key measure of future growth, jumped by 29% y-o-y in the first quarter. SAP’s AI-powered portfolio is at the center of this growth. Its powerful, analytics-driven platform empowers companies to more easily predict and pivot through supply chain disruptions in over 130 countries. By unlocking efficiencies with agility and speed, SAP has positioned itself as a leader in providing solutions that are increasingly relevant in today’s complex market environments.
In early March 2025, SAP hit a major milestone by surpassing Novo Nordisk to become the most valuable public company in Europe. This achievement is a testament to the robust confidence investors have in SAP’s business model. This is a testament to SAP’s ability to drive fantastic outcomes, especially during an economic downturn. Deutsche Bank analysts described the company’s 60% profit jump as a “masterclass in resilience,” reinforcing the sentiment that SAP’s strategies are well-suited to weather potential downturns.
“Our success formula is working.” – Christian Klein, CEO of SAP
Despite these positive trends, SAP’s shareholders were paid dividends for the first time in five years. This payout is further evidence of the company’s lean, mean, returning-value-to-its-investors machine. It represents an important reversal from past practice, when they cancelled—or called a halt on—dividend payments.
Meanwhile analysts from German bank Metzler have said they were confident about SAP’s performance over the coming quarter. Pascal Spano, an analyst at Metzler, stated that SAP is likely to withstand any economic downturn that may impact the global landscape. Underlying this confidence is SAP’s proven resilience and forward-thinking creativity cemented most recently by its expanding suite of AI-enabled, intelligent solutions.
On Wednesday, SAP reported its quarterly earnings. The news matched the timing of other announcements from corporate citizens like Volvo and Heathrow Airport, a clear sign that recovery and expansion is in the air, at least among major corporate players.
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