German software giant SAP's shares plunge on AI worries

by AFP Staff Writers
Frankfurt, Germany (AFP) Jan 29, 2026

Shares in the German software giant SAP suffered their biggest one-day drop in five years Thursday after disappointing earnings, extending a months-long slide driven by fears that AI could disrupt its business.

Shares in Germany's most valuable listed company fell as much as 16 percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to around 164 euros ($196), the steepest one-day decline since October 2020.

Close to 150 billion euros has been wiped off the business software maker's market value since a peak for its share price last year.

The latest fall came after SAP reported results for the fourth quarter of 2025 that showed strong gains in revenue and operating profit.

But its backlog of cloud computing orders, a key metric for analysts, did not rise as fast as hoped, and it also forecast a slight deceleration in order growth this year.

Analysts at UBS called the figures a "disappointment" in a research note.

The rapid advance of AI has fuelled worries about the emergence of alternative tools to compete with those provided by software firms like SAP.

The group provides enterprise software for companies to carry out tasks such as managing data and running their operations.

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SAP

UBS Group

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