SAP Beats Expectations, Hopes to Spirit Marketing with Open-Minded Exec
Business software maker SAP had a strong fourth quarter, beating analysts’ expectations as well as its own. Revenue grew by 12 percent to 3.72 billion euros or $4.7 million, compared to the average sum that analysts predicted: 3.6 billion euros. Operating profit was up 10 percent this quarter, and even managed to lead to a serious decline in rival Oracle’s shares.
Breaking the numbers down, software sales rose 16 percent to 1.74 billion euros, while new license revenue grew by a marginal two percent to just over $2 billion. It’s also notable that HANA, SAP’s analytics soultions, was one of the offerings that has seen the most growth in Q4. The big data platform brought in about 160 million euros, or 60 percent more than what SAP itself has predicted for the quarter.
HANA is a big focus for the company. An SAP exec discussed his company’s vision around the product extensively, and outlined an ecosystem that consists of a new breed of BI apps all revolving around big data analytics.
“They outshone Oracle,” said Mirko Maier, an analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart with a “hold” rating on SAP shares. “It’s a very positive statement, since they kept more than they promised and calmed investors after the disappointment at Software AG.”
SAP’s stock surged as high as 43.24 euros, up 4.3 percent, following the announcement. Shareholders seem to more or less agree with Maier’s opinion.
As the software maker is expanding into markets farther and farther away from the traditional BI world, namely the cloud, mobile and analytics, it has to reshape its public image and not just its offerings portfolio. That’s presumably why SAP hired Julie Roehm to serve as the new senior VP of marketing. Roehm has a history of creating lively ad campaigns and other means of generating more buzz, most notably, a scandal during her tenure at WalMart, not unlike the one stirred up by Oracle’s Mark Hurd.
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