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Why Shares of SAP Jumped Wednesday

By Daniel Sparks – Apr 24, 2019 at 1:28PM

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Solid first-quarter results and an operational review focused on accelerating value creation have investors looking up.

What happened

Shares of SAP (SAP 0.38%) popped on Wednesday, rising as much as 13.4%. The stock's gain follows the business intelligence software company's first-quarter update, which included better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results. Shares are up 11.3% as of 12:56 p.m. EDT.

Management also said it is initiating a review of its business to help drive long-term growth. 

A blue cloud icon surrounded by computer circuitry

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

SAP reported non-IFRS earnings per share of 0.90 euros ($1.02) on revenue of 6.1 billion euros ($6.92 billion), exceeding analysts' consensus estimates for non-GAAP EPS and revenue of $0.95 and $6.67 billion, respectively. 

Highlighting the company's momentum, revenue was up 16% year over year. Additionally, cloud revenue surged 45% year over year.

"I am extremely pleased that we delivered rapid growth in the cloud and a rock-solid core," said CFO Luka Mucic in the company's first-quarter earnings release.

Now what

SAP also announced that on Nov. 12, 2019, management will share "details of several new initiatives to accelerate operational excellence and value creation." The company is forming a special executive board committee to help oversee an operational review focused on driving "growth, innovation, and efficiency."

SAP explained: "Over the next five years, SAP will significantly increase its investment in core product areas and empower its leadership team to drive faster development cycles and speed of execution."

Daniel Sparks has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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