SAP Exceeds €10 Billion in Quarterly Revenue and Sticks to 2026 Profit Forecast
Key Facts
SAP’s quarterly revenue exceeded €10 billion for the first time, while non-IFRS operating profit topped €3 billion, CFO Dominik Asam said in the third-quarter results statement published by the company on October 21, 2026. Asam said the results reflect a disciplined approach to cost management, combined with continued cloud momentum, supporting growth in both revenue and profit. Total revenue was €10.270 billion in the quarter, compared with €9.076 billion in the same period a year earlier. That represents nominal growth of 13%, or 12% at constant currencies. The figures put cost management and cloud growth at the center of the results, without the company linking specific savings to changes in AI models.
Cloud was the main growth driver, with revenue rising to €6.668 billion in the third quarter from €5.290 billion a year earlier. Cloud revenue rose 26% year over year on a nominal basis, and grew 25% at constant currencies. Chief Executive Christian Klein said the current cloud backlog grew 26% at constant currencies, describing the quarter as “exceptional” and adding that customers are embracing the company’s strategy. EL7 reported on October 22 that cloud revenue had risen 26% and that the company was targeting the upper end of its annual forecast range. Growth in revenue and orders provides commercial context for management’s remarks about continued expansion alongside expense controls.
On models, SAP told Reuters it integrates more than 70 models from different providers into its software and lets customers choose models rather than requiring them to use one preferred provider. This approach gives companies multiple options for identifying the model suited to each use, consistent with Asam’s view of how AI can be introduced into business. The CFO told Reuters in July that companies would use “the lowest-cost trusted tool” capable of safely delivering the required result, whether that was a simple program, an open-source model or an advanced, high-cost model. The statement puts cost, reliability and safety among the selection criteria, rather than model cost alone. But SAP’s third-quarter results do not specify financial savings resulting from this choice, nor do they establish that switching models explains gains of more than €2 billion; the company also does not link the move specifically to lower infrastructure costs or improved margins.
Flexibility of choice also carries implications for the accuracy of results in sequential processes. Asam warned in July that AI errors can accumulate across steps in financial workflows, saying: “If some hallucinations occur in the process, the errors will statistically accumulate across many steps.” His warning linked the number of steps to the need for higher levels of assurance in results, illustrating one aspect of the “safety” requirement he cited when discussing the choice of the lowest-cost tool. At the same time, SAP kept its forecast for 2026 non-IFRS operating profit at €11.8 billion to €12.2 billion at constant currencies, with expected growth of between 13% and 17%. The company’s statement compares this forecast with operating profit of €10.42 billion in 2025, making cost management part of a trajectory in which the company is targeting profit growth alongside business expansion.
SAP raised its 2026 cloud revenue forecast to the upper end of its range of €25.8 billion to €26.2 billion at constant currencies. It also expects total revenue growth at constant currencies in 2026 to remain at a level similar to 2025’s 10.6%, before accelerating in 2027. On expenses, the company expects total non-IFRS operating expenses in 2027 to grow at a rate equivalent to 80% to 90% of total revenue growth. This ratio allows the pace of expense growth to be compared with the pace of revenue growth, while the forecast for revenue acceleration in 2027 sets out the path SAP expects beyond the current year. The company’s shares closed at €235.8 on October 27, 2026; this price does not establish a link to an announcement about switching models or a reaction to one.