Cloud AI Blockbuster: Whoever Has the Data Rules the World! 100% with SAP, ServiceNow, Aspermont, Deutsche Telekom and SpaceX

SAP and ServiceNow: When Will the Cloud-Stock Sell-off Stop?

The golden era of cloud stocks is currently undergoing a painful caesura, in which visionary narratives shatter against the hard cliffs of reality. Industry heavyweights such as SAP and ServiceNow have experienced a drastic sell-off with their share prices halving over the last 12 months, plunging investors worldwide into deep uncertainty. For years, investors pumped billions into the software giants; now, instead of vague promises, the market is demanding measurable revenue data from the monetization of artificial intelligence. A representative Bitkom study poured additional oil on the fire by revealing that 85% of domestic companies want to break their oppressive dependence on US cloud infrastructures. This looming turn away from transatlantic platforms is stoking fears of a far-reaching technological upheaval in the software sector, but it is also bringing SAP back into play ahead of its competitors Oracle and ServiceNow.

Despite this rapid downtrend, optimistic analysts on the LSEG platform remain firmly in the buyer's camp and regard the deep plunge as an exaggerated market overreaction. Experts at DZ Bank maintain a long-term positive outlook for the German heavyweight SAP. The median 12-month price target for SAP settles at a robust EUR 218, signaling a clear comeback potential of around 60%. For the US workflow specialist ServiceNow, too, which was pushed down to around USD 80, market observers paint an encouraging picture of the future. The consensus forecasts for ServiceNow were indeed heavily adjusted, yet they still stably fix fair value at targets between USD 125 and 160, putting the consensus at USD 143. 46 of 50 experts hold their thumbs up - what a right-skewed Gaussian curve! The fundamental business model of digital process automation has not, after all, vanished overnight. Once the thick dust on the stock markets settles, these adjusted valuations should form the foundation for the next upward wave.

Aspermont: From Trade Publisher to Intelligence Specialist with Scaling Potential

Australia's Aspermont is among the companies that can profit strongly from the global commodities boom without mining commodities themselves. Over the past years, the digital specialist has consistently evolved from a tradition-rich trade publisher with roots dating back to 1835 into an internationally active provider of data, intelligence and software solutions for the mining and commodities industry. What counts here is the veritable information edge and the dissemination of that knowledge! According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), critical raw materials continue to gain strategic importance for the energy transition, digitalization, defense and high technology, while global supply chains are simultaneously concentrating on ever fewer reliable countries. For companies like Aspermont, the value of reliable market information, proprietary databases and intelligent analysis tools thus rises considerably.

The company's foundation is now an extremely robust subscription business with more than 4,000 corporate customers in over 150 countries. Remarkably, recurring subscription revenues have already grown for 39 consecutive quarters, and the average revenue per customer has increased by around 17% annually since 2016. Such metrics are typical of scalable software and data companies and indicate strong customer loyalty as well as increasing pricing power within a clearly defined niche. At the same time, the operating subscription cash flow finances the expansion of new business areas and reduces dependence on cyclically sensitive individual projects.

Evidently, the marketing and communications platform Nexus is now gaining significant momentum as well. In the first half of 2026, the division already exceeded the revenue of the entire prior year and increased revenues outside the subscription business by 41%. Even more exciting, however, is the build-out of the Data & Intelligence division around Mining IQ. There, Aspermont combines its expertise built over more than 190 years with current market data and the application of artificial intelligence to provide corporate customers such as Rio Tinto with in-depth analyses and decision-making foundations. The latest financial figures reflect the progress of the transformation. In the first half, Aspermont generated revenue of AUD 7.48 million and a net profit of around AUD 0.6 million. At the same time, operating cash flow improved by around AUD 1.5 million compared with the previous quarter. As a precaution, management pushed back the timing of sustainably positive operating cash flow to the second half of fiscal year 2027, after two enterprise contracts with a combined volume of over AUD 1.5 million were delayed due to longer decision-making processes. At the same time, investments in the Data & Intelligence platform are being deliberately accelerated to tap additional revenue sources as early as 2027 and further extend the technological lead.

The analysts at GBC assess this growth path very optimistically. For the current fiscal year, revenue is expected to be around AUD 16.9 million, rising to over AUD 21 million by 2028. In parallel, EBITDA is expected to improve to nearly AUD 3 million. If Aspermont succeeds in monetizing its growing enterprise pipeline and its AI-supported data products, the current valuation should increasingly reflect an orientation toward international software and data providers rather than a classic publishing house. Risk-conscious investors should consider adding Aspermont to their portfolio to be on board for the next leap!

IIF host Lyndsay Malchuk spoke with CEO Alex Kent about the prospects for the current fiscal year.

https://youtu.be/w98Z4lf1dJ0

Deutsche Telekom: SpaceX Pushes Into the Telcos' Domain

The traditional supremacy of global telecommunications giants such as Deutsche Telekom is coming under pressure from the unstoppable rise of satellite networks. Leading the charge, the space company SpaceX is aggressively pushing into the core business of the classic network operators with its Starlink system. While mobile operators relied for decades on the expensive build-out of ground-based infrastructure such as cell towers and fibre-optic cables, Elon Musk's satellite constellation now simply overrides these physical limits from orbit. Through the direct connection of satellites to conventional smartphones via the so-called "Direct-to-Cell" service, SpaceX is positioning itself not merely as a niche provider for remote regions but as a genuine mobile competitor.

This technological disruption enables seamless worldwide network coverage that works even in deep valleys or on the open sea. For established telcos, this development creates significant pressure to innovate, as they fear losing market share in the lucrative data and connectivity business. To avoid falling behind, Deutsche Telekom is already implementing strategic countermeasures and testing its own partnerships with satellite operators to offer hybrid solutions for mobile communications and space internet. Nevertheless, the balance of power in the telecommunications sector is shifting unstoppably in favour of players who master space as a new infrastructure layer. At the end of this technological race, the classic telecommunications providers could be reduced to mere administrators of local residual networks if they sleep through the transformation to the space age. The group's crown jewel, T-Mobile US, has thus already lost 23% over the last 12 months, and it fared little better at the parent, with a good 19% discount. A 2026 P/E ratio of 11.5 together with a 4.7% dividend can now be read on LSEG Refinitiv, plus 18 of 19 experts who calculate an average 12-month price target of EUR 37.46 - a good 50% upside potential for the world's number 4 among the telcos.

The stock market is currently unforgiving. Investors who hesitate risk missing opportunities—or being caught on the wrong side of the next move. Chip stocks raced ahead before suddenly hitting the brakes. The picture is different for AI, cloud, and data specialists. Sentiment toward the sector remains subdued, creating potentially attractive entry points. Meanwhile, Australia's Aspermont continues to build operational momentum, and its growth story may only just be beginning.