Investing.com -- Shares in German business software group SAP SE (ETR:SAPG) slipped in European trading on Thursday, weighed down by weaker-than-expected current-quarter guidance from U.S. peer Salesforce (NYSE:CRM).
By 06:49 ET (11:49 GMT), the stock had edged down by 2.5% to 171.40 euros.
For its fiscal second quarter, Salesforce projected that adjusted per-share earnings would be in a range of $1.31 to $1.33 on revenue of between $9.20 billion and $9.25 billion. Wall Street forecasts had seen the figures at $1.47 and $9.34 billion, respectively.
The outlook was impacted by weak spending on its enterprise-oriented products and services by inflation-squeezed clients, denting optimism around the California-based company's plan to use generative artificial intelligence to boost returns at its key Data Cloud unit. Chief Executive Marc Benioff struck a bullish tone on AI, however, saying the nascent technology continues to present a "massive opportunity for our customers to connect with their customers in a whole new way."
In April, SAP posted a jump in quarterly revenue at its own cloud segment and said it was focusing on investments in developing its own AI capabilities.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients on Thursday that they believe SAP is "still in the early innings" of its push to enhance performace at its cloud offering.