CNBC Property Play: Building data centers on the moon
CNBC's Diana Olick sits down with David Steinbach, global chief investment officer at Hines, and Ross Centers, CEO of Ethos. They discuss why lunar data centers may become the next frontier in real estate, and how the space exploration boom mirrors the early railroad era.
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Europe's most valuable firm SAP flags U.S. trade slowdown but says Japan deal gives 'hope'
German software giant SAP said Wednesday that U.S. tariff tensions were slowing down its customers' decision-making, but that the Japan trade deal announced Tuesday was cause for cautious optimism. "In some sectors which are most affected by these [policy] decisions, like public sector U.S. and also the very big manufacturing industrial companies with complicated global supply chains, there was the one or other large transaction which has slipped over the turn of the last quarter," SAP Chief Financial Officer Dominik Asam told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition." Deals were not disappearing entirely, but approvals were being passed higher up the chain of command and holding up processes due to uncertainty, he noted. "Now we have to see how quickly we can catch up. That is very much a question of how the overall environment will evolve. I mean, obviously the most recent developments in Japan give us some hope, but too early to speculate on that," Asam said. "The faster the uncertainty abates, the more confidence we have in the outcome for the full year," he added. SAP in March became Europe's biggest listed company, overtaking French luxury group LVMH and Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk in market capitalization, after pivoting the business firstly toward cloud computing and then toward opportunities in artificial intelligence. SAP now brings in the majority of its revenue from cloud services, and has focused on how AI can tap into its huge set of finance, sales and supply chain data to make efficiencies for businesses. The U.S. is one of its core markets, and investors have been questioning how SAP would be impacted by a potential pullback in spending as the administration of President Donald Trump engages in tense trade disputes and tariff negotiations with much of the world. The status of any framework deal with the European Union remained mired in uncertainty as of Wednesday, but global stock markets were buoyed by the announcement Tuesday of an agreement with Japan setting tariffs on its exports to the U.S. at 15%. SAP reported late on Tuesday a 9% year-on-year revenue rise to 9.03 billion euros ($10.6 billion) in the second quarter, just shy of an LSEG-compiled consensus forecast of 9.08 billion euros. Operating profit was just ahead of estimates at 2.57 billion euros. The company reiterated its full-year 2025 outlook, despite noting that the "prevailing dynamic environment implies elevated levels of uncertainty and reduced visibility." On an analyst call Tuesday, CEO Christian Klein said SAP was seeing "strong momentum" from the recent national security spending push in Europe, which has driven massive gains in defense stocks this year, some of which are SAP customers. Its current cloud backlog, a key metric for the firm, was up 28% on a constant currency basis to 18.05 billion, which analysts at Deutsche Bank said were "strong" in a Wednesday note. "Overall, we see SAP continuing to execute very well in a challenging environment, helped by its strong product offerings, AI roadmap and structural long-term Cloud migration projects. New wins included landmark customers such as Alibaba in Q2," the Deutsche Bank analysts said. However, other reactions were less positive, with analysts at TD Cowen and Piper Sandler trimming their target prices on the stock. One drag on the results came from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, particularly weakness in the U.S. dollar against the euro, in which SAP reports. The firm forecast a 5 percentage-point drag on cloud revenue growth figures in the third quarter, assuming exchange rates as of June 30. SAP's Frankfurt-listed shares were 3.5% lower in early deals on Wednesday.
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How much investment does Syria need to rebuild?
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CCTV Script 23/07/2025
As the August 1st deadline approaches, the U.S. government is intensifying efforts to reach trade agreements with various countries. On Tuesday local time, progress was made in trade negotiations between the U.S. and Southeast Asian nations. According to the joint statement released by the White House, U.S. tariffs on Indonesia have been reduced from the previously threatened 32% in April to 19%. In return, Indonesia will lower tariffs to 0% on 99% of U.S. exports to Indonesia, covering sectors such as agricultural products, healthcare products, aquatic products, as well as communications technology, automobiles, and chemicals. In terms of tariff rates, the Special Adviser to the Indonesian President on International Trade said in an interview with CNBC that while the original 32% tariff level would have significantly impacted Indonesia's economy, the current 19% tariff is expected to shift the effect on GDP from a negative 0.6% to a positive growth of 0.5%. "We will be able to avoid, hopefully, the potential retrenchment in our labor intensive industries and exports, which have been the worst hit with the 32% tariff." It is worth noting that, according to the joint statement, Indonesia will comprehensively ease non-tariff barriers on U.S. industrial and agricultural products, including localization requirements, certification standards, import permits, and more. Specifically, Indonesia has agreed to exempt U.S.-invested companies and their products of origin from local content requirements. Previously, this policy was seen as a key measure to promote local employment in Indonesia, but it has now been relaxed. Secondly, Indonesia has agreed to adopt for American-made cars exported to Indonesia, which is also a positive development for U.S. automakers. Additionally, Indonesia will lift export restrictions on critical minerals. Moreover, overnight, Trump announced that the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on the Philippines. This tariff adjustment follows a rise from 17% in April to 20% at the beginning of this month, and has now been reduced to 19%, matching the rate applied to Indonesia. According to U.S. government data, the U.S. trade deficit with the Philippines last year was $4.9 billion, with bilateral trade totaling $23.5 billion. In response to Trump's proposal for the Philippines to open its market to the U.S. and implement zero tariffs, the Philippines has yet to respond. Previously, the Philippines stated that it could not implement zero tariffs on U.S. goods like Vietnam and Indonesia, as it would harm the interests of domestic businesses. The president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation said in a CNBC interview that, based on a survey of local exporters, 10% of respondents reported their buyers were in a wait-and-see mode due to uncertainty about absorbing additional costs. However, most of these orders have already been successfully redirected to other markets. For Southeast Asian countries, they are closely monitoring the progress of trade negotiations between their neighbors and the U.S. This attention underscores the interconnected nature of regional trade dynamics and the potential ripple effects of bilateral agreements on neighboring economies. "We're really worried about the negotiations of our competitors. So sort of especially in the region. Because if what happens to Vietnam happens to the other countries here who have the same products with us, then we have a problem in the US, at least."
