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SAP Gears Up for Q3 Earnings: Here's What You Should Know

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SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) is scheduled to report results for the third quarter of 2024 on Oct. 21.

Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2024 earnings has been revised 0.8% downward in the past 60 days and is pegged at $1.31 per share. Additionally, the consensus mark implies a 17.1% decline from the year-ago actual.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2024 revenues is currently pegged at $9.26 billion, indicating a 9.9% uptick from the year-ago actual.

SAP's earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters while missing in the remaining two with an average beat of 4%.

Factors Shaping the Upcoming Results for SAP

SAP’s performance is expected to have benefited from steady momentum in its cloud business. Rapid adoption of Rise with SAP solution is one of the major drivers of cloud business. This solution helps companies transform business processes and operations to become more nimble, digital and intelligent. The increasing adoption of this solution also offers tremendous cross-sell opportunities, thereby generating revenue across the portfolio.

Increasing adoption of the Grow with SAP solution is another catalyst. Grow with SAP is designed especially for midsize customers to adopt cloud ERP and boost speed and predictability while fostering innovation.

Increasing opportunities presented by Business AI are also likely to have aided SAP’s top-line performance in the to-be-reported quarter. Earlier in the year, SAP partnered with NVIDIA to add AI capabilities into its Rise with SAP solution through its AI co-pilot Joule for consultants and developers. 

SAP SE Price and EPS Surprise

SAP SE Price and EPS Surprise

SAP SE price-eps-surprise | SAP SE Quote

Momentum in SAP’s business technology platform, particularly S/4HANA solutions, augurs well. More companies have begun deploying S/4HANA solutions partly or entirely in the cloud. SAP’s efforts to simplify its go-to-market strategy bode well. 

However, the company’s performance is affected by continued softness in the Software license and support business segment coupled with global macroeconomic weakness and geopolitical instability.  Also, increasing research & development costs and stiff competition in the cloud space are concerns.

Recent Key Highlight

On Sept. 12, 2024, SAP acquired Israel-based WalkMe Ltd. for $1.5 billion. This deal represented an approximate 45% premium to WalkMe's closing share price on June 4, 2024, the day when SAP and WalkMe agreed to the binding terms of the acquisition.

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, WalkMe is known for its innovations in digital adoption platforms. The company enhances and speeds up the effectiveness of digital transformation strategies by promoting user adoption of digital assets. WalkMe’s Digital Adoption Platform continuously identifies gaps and issues, guiding users to success without requiring code changes or alterations to existing platforms.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for SAP this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is exactly the case here.

SAP has an Earnings ESP of +1.37% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks you may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

SEI Investments Company (SEIC - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.94% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 

SEIC is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Oct. 23. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SEIC’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.07 per share and $532.1 million, respectively. Shares of SEIC have gained 29.9% in the past year.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +0.50% and a Zacks Rank #2. AMP is scheduled to report quarterly numbers on Oct. 23. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMP’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $8.86 per share and $4.3 billion, respectively. Shares of AMP have risen 60% in the past year.

American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +32.87% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. AAL is scheduled to report quarterly figures on Oct. 24. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at 13 cents per share and $13.49 billion, respectively. Shares of AAL have gained 13.5% in the past year.

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