SAP’s AI Monetization Push at Sapphire Leaves the Stock Stuck Near the Year’s Low

Despite robust cloud growth and a planned Dremio acquisition to fuel AI revenue, SAP shares languish near a 52-week low, pressuring CEO Klein to prove the data strategy's value.

SAP has arrived at its annual Sapphire customer conference in Orlando armed with strong operational numbers and a clear plan to turn artificial intelligence into a measurable revenue stream. Yet the market is still refusing to buy the narrative, and the shares are trading within a hair’s breadth of their 52-week low. Chief Executive Christian Klein is now under pressure to convince investors that the company’s new data strategy can close the gap between fundamental performance and stock price.

The centrepiece of the offensive is the planned acquisition of Dremio, a data-lakehouse platform that SAP intends to fold into its own Business Data Cloud. The deal, announced just before the conference began, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The goal is to create a unified data catalog that lets companies link SAP and external data seamlessly, providing the fuel for what SAP calls “agentic” AI applications that can handle routine decisions in finance, procurement and human resources autonomously. The management is deliberately steering away from technical demos this year, instead emphasising customer case studies and productivity metrics to demonstrate a clear return on investment.

Alongside the data play, SAP is deepening its sector-specific push. Together with hospital operator Fresenius, it is investing in the Munich-based health-tech startup Avelios Medical. The move is driven by an approaching deadline: SAP’s legacy hospital information system IS-H will lose official support in 2030. The partners aim to build an open, AI-powered platform to digitalise clinical processes, giving Fresenius a timely alternative for its German clinics.

The operational numbers that SAP took to Orlando remain solid. Cloud-order backlog expanded to just under €22 billion in the first quarter, a gain of around 20%. Operating profit rose 24% to €2.9 billion, and the company has set a full-year cloud revenue target of roughly €26 billion. Nevertheless, management has warned of a near-term slowdown in cloud growth in the current quarter because of one-off effects and a still-challenging macroeconomic environment that may temper customer spending.

So far, none of that has impressed the stock market. The shares slipped to €141.04 on Tuesday, extending the year-to-date decline to approximately 30%. That puts the equity only a whisker above the 52-week trough of €139.12. Should the price break decisively below that level, chart-driven selling could accelerate. Conversely, if Klein and his team can secure major customers for the new Joule AI licences during the remainder of Sapphire, the stock may finally find a floor. The next few days will be decisive.