SAP Stands Behind Previous Guidance

SAP(SAP Quote - Cramer on SAP - Stock Picks) isn't budging from its previous estimates for sales and operating margins, despite a profit warning by chief competitor Oracle(ORCL Quote - Cramer on ORCL - Stock Picks) on Thursday.

"Nothing has changed in the forecasts we released on Jan. 23," SAP said, according to published reports. In January, the software maker said sales would increase by 23% in the first half of the year. The company predicted slightly lower growth for the full year.

After the market closed yesterday, Oracle warned that its earnings and revenue would fall below Wall Street's expectations for the fiscal third quarter, which just ended. The company has been saying for months that it hasn't been feeling the crunch of an economic slowdown, but just recently said "a significant amount of deals got deferred."

Typically, software companies count on a sales spike at the end of the quarter. The warning was followed today by a flurry of ratings cuts by analysts.

Shares of SAP were down $3.74, or 9.6%, to $35.15 in recent New York Stock Exchange trading, while Oracle lost $4, or 18.8%, to $17.38.