SAP
The software the world’s companies run on.
52-week range
As of 5 Oct 2026, 14:51What does SAP do?
SAP, based in Walldorf, Germany, makes the software companies use to run their day-to-day business: accounting, purchasing, warehouses, production and payroll. Once a company has moved everything onto SAP, it rarely switches again, which makes the business very predictable. Today SAP mostly sells its software as a cloud subscription.
Your payslip may well run through SAP: many large corporations and mid-sized firms use it behind the scenes.
How SAP makes money
- Cloud subscriptions57 %
- Software licenses & support31 %
- Consulting & services12 %
Strengths
- Many of the world’s largest companies run on SAP, and switching away is costly and risky.
- Cloud subscriptions bring in recurring revenue that is easy to plan.
- Europe’s most valuable software company with more than 50 years of experience.
Risks
- Moving customers from licenses to cloud subscriptions is expensive and has to keep working.
- Strong competition from US giants such as Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce.
- The stock trades at a high valuation, so disappointments can hit the price hard.
- Founded
- 1972
- Headquarters
- Walldorf, Germany
- Employees
- about 111,000
What if you had invested in SAP earlier?
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This page explains the company and is not a recommendation to buy or sell.