Dhe shares of the software manufacturer and cloud service provider SAP rose in the past week. While their price fluctuated between 116 and 118 euros in the first few days of trading, it rose suddenly after an ad hoc announcement on Wednesday. It is true that the operating result fell by 15 percent compared to the previous year in the third quarter. However, this included profit distributions to successful employees who were rewarded for their efforts. The operating result before interest and taxes was 2 percent higher, which was also a surprise for analysts who closely follow the company. Above all, the cloud business is going well.
Since then, the price has been moving upwards – most recently above 125 euros, i.e. again around the values of July and August, when the high of a little more than 140 euros was no longer that far away. In a week, the Dax heavyweight has become more than 6 percent more expensive. Such corporate news can set the tone at a time when a certain uncertainty can be felt in the markets. The first half of the week was marked by discussions about rising prices. At the moment, the focus is on energy costs, with the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil reaching 84 euros. And there is currently concern among traders that inflation may be more stubborn than initially feared.
The global economy came through the pandemic quite robustly, but delivery bottlenecks and price increases can be observed everywhere. Many companies cannot achieve their production goals in this way. In the second half of the week, on the other hand, the more optimistic voices predominated, saying that the price development and a change in course in US monetary policy had already been priced in.
But – and so we come back to the starting point with SAP – many company outlooks look positive.
And the volatility indices, which document fluctuations in the stock markets, are currently low. The prices on the European stock exchanges rose again from Wednesday on for the most part. The fundamental disruptive factors such as the high raw material costs remain, but the more precisely the companies allow an insight into their business situation, the more excited the investors. In addition to priced in inflation, there is now talk of a priced positive reporting season.