Thread regarding SAP layoffs

Stock price decrease despite layoffs

SAP is currently facing a very unstable situation.

We are already witnessing this with HP and several other major companies.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/25/hp-inc-shares-fall-as-company-says-it-will-cut-up-to-6000-employees.html

Despite significant layoffs and reductions in their operating costs, HP's stock has declined. Investors clearly perceive a lack of a solid plan to enhance profits, which has diminished shareholder confidence.

The SAP executive board is convinced that layoffs and dividends will elevate the stock price, but this approach will not work. Shareholders are not interested in quick returns through dividends; they want to see a comprehensive plan from SAP and increased investments rather than more layoffs. P23 has already demonstrated that layoffs are costly and do not significantly reduce operating expenses. The stock price began to drop sharply after the announcement of regular layoffs and superficial measures.

The only viable solution is to dismiss most of the board and develop a genuine strategy. However, supervisory board members who are attempting to hold the executive board accountable are already facing pressure and being urged to resign. Just as we witnessed half of the Betriebsrat depart during the recent layoffs, we can expect most supervisory board members to take a lucrative deal and exit.

Consequently, layoffs will persist. The stock price will continue to decline. The executive board will receive their largest bonuses ever, while leaving no budget for employee salary increases or bonuses. They will penalize employees because the workforce is too intimidated to advocate for themselves.


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| 3878 views | | 21 replies (last December 12) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kazrsa67

21 replies (most recent on top)

With RISE being the complete and utter disaster it is, yes we are in for some horrible times.

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Post ID: @2jr+1kazrsa67

@OP Just wait until they cant hide the RISE failures anymore. Then the real fun begins.

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Post ID: @11g+1kazrsa67

@ey a new partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) d-mbs down the company and warrants a negative market response. When inadequate bench talent forced use of 3P consultants and TCS was one of three “preferred” (aka mandatory) 3P sources for N. America, program and project managers responsible for staffing were sc--wed.

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Post ID: @hc+1kazrsa67

From Gemini 3.0

In late November 2025, SAP's share price has experienced downward pressure due to a combination of disappointing financial updates, broader market trends, and internal challenges.

The key reasons for the recent decline include:

  1. Q3 2025 Earnings & Revenue Miss
    The most significant drag on the stock came from the Q3 financial results released in late October 2025.

Revenue Shortfall: SAP reported revenue of €9.08 billion, which significantly missed analyst expectations of €10.61 billion.

Market Reaction: While the company showed strong growth in its cloud business (up 27%), the headline revenue miss caused investors to reassess the stock's valuation, leading to a dip that has lingered into November.

  1. Broader Tech Sector Weakness
    Throughout mid-November 2025, European and US tech stocks faced a general sell-off.

Sector Trends: SAP was caught in a broader market rotation where investors moved away from tech stocks, leading to drops of nearly 3% on some trading days (e.g., around mid-November).

Guidance vs. Reality: Despite positive guidance from some peers like Oracle, European tech names like SAP and Adyen saw specific weakness.

  1. Legal & Regulatory Headwinds
    Two major regulatory issues have weighed on investor sentiment:

EU Antitrust Probe: The EU Commission has initiated formal proceedings regarding SAP's on-premise support policies. Investors fear this could force changes to SAP's business model or result in fines.

US DOJ Investigation: Reports have resurfaced or continued regarding a US Department of Justice investigation into potential price-fixing and overcharging of government agencies (involving partner Carahsoft). Legal uncertainties often cause institutional investors to reduce their holdings until clarity emerges.

  1. Internal Turmoil & Leadership Trust
    A report surfaced in late November (around Nov 25) highlighting a sharp drop in employee trust in SAP’s executive board.

Trust Score: Internal surveys showed trust in leadership falling to 59% (down from >80% in 2021).

Impact: This decline is linked to aggressive restructuring and the company's rapid pivot to AI, which has unsettled the workforce. Investors often view low employee morale as a risk to productivity and long-term execution.

Summary of Recent Trading Context
While the stock has struggled recently, there are mixed signals. On November 27, 2025, SAP announced the launch of its "EU AI Cloud" and a new partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which caused the stock to stabilize or rise slightly in very recent sessions. However, the overarching trend for the month has been negative due to the fundamental concerns listed above.

Note on "SAP" in the News: You may see headlines about "SAP" corruption or "Operation Midas" in Ukraine. This refers to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (abbreviated SAP in Ukraine), not the software company SAP SE. This news is unrelated to the stock price.

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Post ID: @ey+1kazrsa67

@c9 Rise was their ruse to fool the market into thinking we were going cloud when in reality no such thing was happening and we were running the same old same old on a different persons hardware and charging a subscription instead of maintenance but in all the model really didn't change much. Clean core was about the only thing even remotely cloud native and even that is rubbish. What really was needed was to reinvent the industries so the could be run as standalone multi tenant services that provided functionality via api whilst keeping the actual data storage in hana exposed by business resource services. That way we get the data isolation that clients want with the efficiencies of scale that comes from cloud native multi-tenant business logic services. But so much of s4 is cr-ppy 4gl nonsense written in a saps own COBOL rip off that is tied directly to the database (hence the need for a bloated leviathan like hana in the first place) rather than a modernised decoupoled api driven architecture. So whilst SAP transition to the "cloud" in the public to share holders the crown jewels just got a wrapper over then so they could run archaic mainframe software on modern hardware deployed per customer. Its the same play IBM made and SAP is suffering the same fate as IBM as an also ran player who lives of of vender lock in decisions made a quarter to half a century ago.

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Post ID: @en+1kazrsa67

@c9 I think you brought up some solid points. However, I don't agree with the pessimistic claim that "the current board is the best we can get." There's always a chance to find talented individuals in such a big company. Plus, we can seek outside assistance, even from consultancies when necessary.

I feel that the current and recent policies were created with bad intentions. Hear me out. We had a catalyst program designed to identify employees with potential and fast-track their careers at SAP. If this program were genuine, we would have seen some catalysts rise closer to the board or even into the CEO's office.

But in reality, this program was just a facade. Not many catalysts received better salary reviews than their peers. Hiring at SAP relies on connections rather than merit. As a result, most catalysts experienced no career advancement despite taking on extra responsibilities or completing additional training. And now the program is scaled down.

Likewise, the current layoff situation is a joke. It distracts from issues that should hold the board accountable. In return, it keeps employees feeling anxious. Sure, the job market isn't great right now. But that doesn't justify the executive board ruling through fear, slashing salary increases, and cutting bonuses and benefits. I would love to see the executive board take a pay cut to free up funds for employees.

And about strategy, you're spot on. There are more valuable insights on this forum than what we've heard from the board lately. All I hear is "we need regular layoffs" and "we're improving in ERP and OnPrem Maintenance," etc. The current strategy is not for long-term sustainability or growth of SAP as a company. It's a band aid that will allow the executive board members to cash in as much money as possible before they leave to rip off another company.

CK is setting unrealistic targets, which means employees get lower bonuses when we fail to meet them. I just don't get why the board has so many supporters when they seem to act with malice towards employees. Why don't people see that? I would have expected trust in board to be less than 50%.

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Post ID: @e2+1kazrsa67

Don‘t spread internal information.

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Post ID: @dt+1kazrsa67

Given the amount of money they make, I think (hope?) the board has a plan how to improve the situation.

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Post ID: @dk+1kazrsa67

Triangulating SAP’s woke politics to the revenue decay is something entirely doable with SAP’s own technology.

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Post ID: @bv+1kazrsa67

Should I dump my shares now? or wait til they are worthless and I am unemployed and penniless?

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Post ID: @bp+1kazrsa67

@b4 But even the public cloud editions are really cloud native, just on prem software run per client on hyperscaler infra by SAP and private is run by the client. None of BTP of S4 is truely cloud native, managed software as a service. Its for those reasons we can't truly get efficiencies of scale that cloud products normally get as were not a cloud product.

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Post ID: @b9+1kazrsa67

@ax correct! SAP defines “cloud” - private edition - as an on-premise technology stack running in a hyperscaler cloud infrastructure. Deduct that from reported “cloud” revenue, count only public edition stack subscriptions, and see what you get.

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Post ID: @b4+1kazrsa67

@ax I mean instead of "forcing" customers to move to the Cloud, make the experience of those who has already moved very good:

New features, better quality, better stability...etc

Since SAP stopped investing in OnPrem, running the maintenance with less resources and spread all over the world, makes the customer experience horrible...

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Post ID: @ay+1kazrsa67

@ab But what does focus on "cloud" customers mean. If it just means running the old on prem code base on other companies cloud infrastructure with a little bit of AI in the form of an unpleasant experience in joule then its not going to go anywhere

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Post ID: @ax+1kazrsa67

Good. This company deserves every bad thing that can come its way.

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Post ID: @aw+1kazrsa67

The plan would be to:

  1. acquire n8n which will enhance Joule customer experience and Agentic AI
  2. Get rid of OnPrem support: instead of just ignoring the engineers maintaining the OnPrem products, give them good severance pay and let them go take care of their future
    3.Focus on Cloud customers

It might give a clear strategy that the market might like

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Post ID: @ab+1kazrsa67

@a8 The answer is ”there will be layoffs.“

Layoffs look like the only thing the board know to do.

In areas like innovation or strategy, they do not exactly perform brillantly.

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Post ID: @aa+1kazrsa67

Will there be massive layoff in 2026 if stock not turn back?

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Post ID: @a8+1kazrsa67

@a4 Innovation is not necessarily technological. SAP could also address new business domains (using BTP or ABAP or whatever, does not matter). Business knowledge and the ability to turn this into solutions is what SAP is (was?) good at.

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Post ID: @a5+1kazrsa67

@a3 But when was the last time SAP genuinely innovated? Most of the technologies they promote today were acquired rather than developed in-house — some might even say “borrowed,” pun intended.

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Post ID: @a4+1kazrsa67

If I was an investor, I would consider layoffs a sign of weakness.

Imagine a CEO who would instead claim: "We need all of our people, because we have so many ideas and plans for innovation!"

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Post ID: @a3+1kazrsa67

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