$SAP

Reuters reported Aug. 13 that Silver Lake may be interested in acquiring Workday, citing coverage by Citi analyst Steven Enders. Citi said the news could lead investors to reassess AI disruption concerns and current pricing in European software. Citi noted resilient financial performance and expects shares to react positively, naming SAP its top pick.

Monday morning, Germany’s DAX fell slightly as weak Chinese data and stalled Middle East peace talks weighed on sentiment. Brent crude rose to $89.49 per barrel, up 1.1%, amid renewed fighting in Lebanon and tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz. The DAX was down 0.09% at 26,409.32. Zalando and several others declined, while Siemens Energy and Rheinmetall rose.

Threat intelligence firms report hackers began exploiting a critical SAP Commerce Cloud vulnerability three days after disclosure. The issue, CVE-2026-58231 (CVSS 10), involves insufficient authorization checks and input validation, enabling arbitrary code execution. SAP issued patches Aug. 11; Defused and KEVIntel observed exploitation attempts Aug. 14-15, with a PoC appearing Aug. 15. CISA has not yet added it to KEV.

Defused reported active exploitation attempts of CVE-2026-58231, a critical unauthenticated remote code execution flaw in SAP Commerce Cloud. Defused said activity appeared in its honeypots on Aug. 14, three days after SAP released a patch. The vulnerability has a CVSS 10.0 score, and Defused noted no public proof of concept was available.

Workday (WDAY) shares rose about 18% after Reuters reported that Silver Lake was considering a takeover of the HR and financial-management software company. The report pushed Workday’s market value above $51 billion. Workday reported $9.55B revenue in fiscal 2026, up 13.1%, with $8.83B subscription revenue, up 14.5%. No deal has been announced.

Bloomberg-linked reports say AI infrastructure spending is driving divergent results across semiconductors and software. Samsung’s semiconductor division profit rose more than 250-fold on AI memory demand, while Qualcomm forecast weaker profits tied to smartphone weakness. Hon Hai sales rose 54% on AI server demand, and Cloudflare raised its outlook. IBM cut guidance; Palantir, SAP, and Shopify reported stronger AI or cloud-related metrics.

CVE-2026-58231, a CVSS 10.0 flaw in SAP Commerce Cloud involving insufficient authorization checks and input validation, is being actively exploited days after a patch, according to CVE.org and Defused Cyber. Onapsis says successful attacks could enable arbitrary code execution. SAP advises patching to fixed release levels and, as a temporary workaround, using an IP Filter Set.

European shares ended lower as higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions offset support from resilient earnings. The Stoxx 600 fell 0.2% to 657.86, still near record highs. Earnings growth is forecast at 23.4%. Sector moves included Zealand Pharma down, Rheinmetall up, and SAP, Nemetschek, Temenos higher. Maersk rose 8.7% after results and guidance upgrade.

US and European shares fell while oil prices rose amid tense US-Iran talks. The US threatened to increase economic pressure on Iran, including extending a naval blockade. Brent rose to $87.68/bbl and US oil to $81.49. In Ireland, Kingspan slid then said it will pay up to €900m for BMC. In the US, Broadcom and Applied Materials fell; SanDisk and Western Digital rose; Reddit jumped after S&P 500 inclusion.

European stocks ended mixed as Middle East conflict and uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz weighed on sentiment, while easing concerns about Fed rates followed tame US inflation. Stoxx 600 fell 0.21%, with CAC 40 down 0.16% and DAX up 0.53%. UK’s Sage Group rose 4.5%. Valneva jumped 20% after EMA validated its Lyme vaccine application.