A weak dollar, a looming U.S. recession, and a sagging stock market may foreshadow a gloomy new year for the tech sector, but don’t try telling that to German software maker SAP.

“This is the most exciting instance ever to be in info technology — at least in software,” says SAP Deputy Chief Executive Leo Apotheker, who was in Silicon Valley on Jan. 16 to announce the successful conclusion of the company’s $6.8 billion acquisition of French business intelligence software maker Business Objects.

Apotheker claims a U.S. recession won’t change that. “Our core business is growing at a fast pace and is actually generating higher and higher margins, and there is no reason why it won’t do the same in the future,” he says. “All regions are growing in the double digits, and that gives us the confidence that we can weather storms here and there.”

Rocky Share Price, Double-Digit Growth

Despite such bullishness, SAP’s

share price has taken a hit. It closed at 33.44 ($49.72) in Frankfurt trading on Jan. 16, up 1.8% for the day, but it’s still down 20% from its 52-week high of 42.08 set last September, before the company announced plans to acquire Business Objects.

By all rights, SAP’s share price ought to be at least 40, argues Dresdner Kleinwort software analyst Adam Shepherd, even factoring in concerns that the company overpaid to add business intelligence to its product portfolio. “They just had a great quarter where they blew out all of the numbers and their core business is in very strong health,” Shepherd says.

Indeed, according to preliminary results announced Jan. 14, SAP’s total revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be $4.8 billion, up 10% by the previous year. Total revenues for the full year are expected to be $15.25 billion, an increase of around 9% by…

Orginal post by Top Tech News

A weak dollar, a looming U.S. recession, and a sagging stock market may foreshadow a gloomy new year for the tech sector, but don’t try telling that to German software maker SAP.

“This is the most exciting moment ever to be in data technology — at least in software,” says SAP Deputy Chief Executive Leo Apotheker, who was in Silicon Valley on Jan. 16 to announce the successful conclusion of the company’s $6.8 billion acquisition of French business intelligence software maker Business Objects.

Apotheker claims a U.S. recession won’t change that. “Our core business is growing at a fast pace and is actually generating higher and higher margins, and there is no reason why it won’t do the same in the future,” he says. “All regions are growing in the double digits, and that gives us the confidence that we can weather storms here and there.”

Rocky Share Price, Double-Digit Growth

Despite such bullishness, SAP’s

share price has taken a hit. It closed at 33.44 ($49.72) in Frankfurt trading on Jan. 16, up 1.8% for the day, but it’s still down 20% from its 52-week high of 42.08 set last September, before the company announced plans to acquire Business Objects.

By all rights, SAP’s share price ought to be at least 40, argues Dresdner Kleinwort software analyst Adam Shepherd, even factoring in concerns that the company overpaid to add business intelligence to its product portfolio. “They just had a great quarter where they blew out all of the numbers and their core business is in very strong health,” Shepherd says.

Indeed, according to preliminary results announced Jan. 14, SAP’s total revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be $4.8 billion, up 10% by the previous year. Total revenues for the full year are expected to be $15.25 billion, an increase of around 9% by…

Orginal post by Top Tech News