Analyst Optimism Drives SAP Shares to Record High

During the rally in capital markets, the stock of German software behemoth SAP continues its impressive ascent by reaching a new record high on Friday. This achievement comes just days after the company has surpassed a noteworthy market value of 200 billion euros, further emphasizing the firm's heavyweight status in the DAX index. The midday quote showed a gain of 2.1 percent to 165.74 euros, with the SAP stock leading the top gainers in the German Stock Index. With a year-to-date share price growth of nearly 19 percent, SAP confidently leads the field in the prestigious stock market segment. The latest upward move is triggered by an optimistic analysis from investment firm Jefferies, which upgraded SAP shares from 'Hold' to 'Buy' and set a new target price of an impressive 190 euros. Analyst Charles Brennan at Jefferies expects SAP to reach the growth dynamics of U.S. competitors such as Salesforce, Adobe, and Intuit and sees no short-term valuation limit for the stock in this context. Brennan specifically points to the strong performance of SAP's cloud segment, which suggests the company could now achieve sustainable annual growth of 10 to 12 percent – a noticeable increase from the previous forecast of 8 to 10 percent. Considering this perspective and the solid valuation based on free cash flow, the higher target price and positive buy recommendation set by Jefferies are justified. Investors are encouraged by the prospect of sustained growth and increased efficiency of SAP solutions, which should further enhance the attractiveness of the stock.