FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - More optimistic medium-term targets during the Sapphire conference in Orlando gave the shares of software manufacturer SAP further upward momentum on Wednesday. Around midday, they gained 1.6 percent to 123.30 euros in the moderately higher Dax, building on their previous day's gains.

On Tuesday, the shares had finally managed to close above their 21-day line, which indicates the short-term trend. A continuation of the upward trend this year is thus emerging, at least from a chart perspective. This had taken the shares to 124.60 euros at the end of April, which not only represented the highest level since the beginning of 2022, but also a gain of almost 30 percent so far this year.

Europe's largest software manufacturer had raised almost all key outlook figures for continuing operations in 2025 the previous evening due to the announced sale of U.S. market researcher Qualtrics and also announced a share buyback worth billions.

Analyst Antonin Baudry of the major British bank HSBC sees the new targets as a stream of water on the mills of the optimists. Knut Woller of Baader Bank wrote that SAP's updated ambitions now suggest positive operating demand momentum and stronger business performance without Qualtrics in the coming years than originally thought. "However, this growth also requires investment," he added. And this implies - given maintained operating profit ambitions coupled with higher revenues - "lower margins than previously anticipated, and also somewhat weaker internally generated free cash flow" (FCF).

Nevertheless, he and Baudry remain optimistic about SAP shares. Baudry, for instance, sees "the glass half full" in view of the raised revenue forecasts despite the weaker margin profile and existing risks to the FCF forecast. In the meantime, he considers SAP's product portfolio to be more mature, for example, and expects the benefits of this strategy to become apparent soon.

In addition, Woller and also JPMorgan analyst Toby Ogg see the statements of the new CEO Dominik Asam on setting the course for "sustainable, dynamic growth beyond 2025" as upside potential for the medium-term targets, as Asam is known to be rather cautious./ck/ag/mis