LIVE
WK
Workiva Inc. · Technology - Financial Reporting SaaS
$47.37
-4.67% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
SAP
SAP SE · Technology - Enterprise Software
$155.22
-13.19% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
WK
4
SAP
0
Comparison scoreboard
WK LEADS 4/5AI Score
WK ✓40.4
SAP 40.0
1Y Return
WK ✓-28.87%
SAP -45.51%
Fwd P/E
WK ✓13.52
SAP 15.77
Target Up.
WK ✓+66.20%
SAP +64.93%
Op. Margin
WK N/A
SAP N/A
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
WK vs SAP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
WK (Workiva) and SAP are both enterprise software companies serving large organizations' reporting and operational needs but at vastly different scales and specificity — Workiva is a specialized cloud platform for financial and ESG reporting workflows where auditability and data linkage are critical, while SAP is the world's dominant ERP system managing core business operations for the largest global enterprises. Workiva is a reporting and compliance specialist; SAP is the end-to-end enterprise operations platform.
WK vs SAP is specialized ESG and financial reporting SaaS riding a regulatory wave (Workiva's purpose-built reporting platform positioned to capture mandatory ESG disclosure adoption while existing SEC filing customers expand usage) versus dominant enterprise ERP giant in cloud transition (SAP's unassailable Fortune 1000 ERP installed base converting to recurring cloud revenue with AI integration across all business processes) — focused specialist versus diversified enterprise software incumbent.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
WK holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. WK leads on both 1-year return (-28.87%) and forward P/E (13.52x vs 15.77x for SAP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +66.20% for WK and +64.93% for SAP.
Normalized 1Y performance
WK
SAP
Recent returns
WK
SAP
Analyst price targets & sentiment
WK · 11 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.2/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$65.00
analyst high$90.00
analyst mean$78.73
current price$47.37
+66.2% upside to analyst mean
SAP · 12 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.6/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$200.00
analyst high$323.00
analyst mean$256.00
current price$155.22
+64.9% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
WK may suit investors who:
- →Want a regulatory-driven SaaS growth story — Workiva is positioned to benefit from mandatory corporate ESG reporting requirements that force thousands of public companies to upgrade from manual spreadsheet-based reporting processes
- →Value Workiva's data linkage and auditability as genuine technical differentiation for SEC and regulatory filings where data accuracy and audit trails are legally required
- →Accept ESG regulatory uncertainty risk as manageable given the global momentum of corporate sustainability reporting requirements and Workiva's existing SEC filing base
SAP may suit investors who:
- →Want the dominant enterprise ERP company with unmatched Fortune 1000 customer retention — SAP's deeply embedded systems create switching costs that make its revenue among the most durable in enterprise software
- →Value SAP's cloud transition as improving revenue quality toward recurring subscriptions while maintaining SAP's competitive moat in core ERP functionality
- →Prefer SAP's scale, global reach, and dividend as a high-quality enterprise software holding versus smaller, pure-play SaaS companies with higher growth but more risk
Performance & AI score
| Metric | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 40.4 | 40.0 |
| AI rank | #1058 | #1097 |
| Latest close | $47.37 | $155.22 |
| 1M return | -4.67% | -13.19% |
| 6M return | -45.91% | -34.59% |
| 1Y return | -28.87% | -45.51% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $7.11K (-28.9%) started 2025-06-18 | $5.54K (-44.6%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $4.41K (-55.9%) started 2021-06-18 | $13.11K (+31.1%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $34.53K (+245.3%) started 2016-06-20 | $27.42K (+174.2%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $2.66B | $182.99B |
| Trailing P/E | 197.38 | 21.44 |
| Forward P/E | 13.52 | 15.77 |
| Price/Sales | 2.87 | 4.90 |
| EV/Revenue | 2.89 | 5.11 |
| Analyst target | $78.73 | $256.00 |
| Target upside | +66.20% | +64.93% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 19.90% | 6.00% |
| Earnings growth | N/A | 9.30% |
| EPS growth | N/A | +9.30% |
| FCF margin | +16.74% | +21.81% |
| Operating margin | N/A | N/A |
| Profit margin | 1.53% | 19.58% |
| ROIC proxy | N/A | 16.35% |
| Return on equity | N/A | 16.35% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 1.77% |
| Beta | 0.49 | 0.73 |
| Debt/equity | N/A | 17.33 |
| Current ratio | 1.61 | 1.07 |
| Quick ratio | 1.47 | 0.92 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
WK max drawdown52.51%
SAP max drawdown49.37%
WK max wkly drop17.96%
SAP max wkly drop15.67%
5Y risk snapshot
WK max drawdown72.45%
SAP max drawdown49.37%
WK max wkly drop27.64%
SAP max wkly drop15.67%
10Y risk snapshot
WK max drawdown72.45%
SAP max drawdown51.02%
WK max wkly drop30.91%
SAP max wkly drop28.63%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -28.87% | -45.51% |
| CAGR | -28.89% | -45.53% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.51 | -1.72 | |
| Max drawdown | 52.51% | 49.37% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.50% | 15.20% | |
| Max wkly drop | 17.96% | 15.67% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -55.94% | +20.45% |
| CAGR | -15.12% | +3.79% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.23 | 0.12 | |
| Max drawdown | 72.45% | 49.37% | |
| Max daily drop | 13.27% | 15.20% | |
| Max wkly drop | 27.64% | 15.67% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +245.26% | +132.43% |
| CAGR | +13.20% | +8.81% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.40 | 0.28 | |
| Max drawdown | 72.45% | 51.02% | |
| Max daily drop | 14.78% | 23.16% | |
| Max wkly drop | 30.91% | 28.63% |
Business comparison
| Category | WK | SAP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Workiva Inc. | SAP SE |
| Sector | Technology - Financial Reporting SaaS | Technology - Enterprise Software |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Workiva provides a cloud platform for enterprise financial reporting, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) reporting, SEC filings, internal audit, and risk management — allowing large companies to link data across spreadsheets, reports, and filings so that updating a number in one place automatically updates it everywhere it appears. Workiva serves public companies, large enterprises, and government entities who must produce complex, multi-stakeholder reports with auditable data lineage. | SAP is the world's largest enterprise application software company — providing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems (S/4HANA) that manage core business processes: finance, supply chain, manufacturing, procurement, human resources, and sales. SAP also provides analytics (SAP Analytics Cloud), sustainability reporting (SAP Sustainability Control Tower), CRM (SAP Sales Cloud), and supply chain applications. SAP serves 99 of the 100 largest companies in the world. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Workiva's ARR growth, the ESG reporting mandate wave (SEC climate disclosure rules, EU CSRD requirements driving mandatory corporate ESG reporting), net revenue retention, enterprise customer expansion, and the competitive landscape in regulatory reporting and ESG data platforms. | Investors track SAP's Cloud Revenue (the transition from on-premise license revenue to recurring SaaS/cloud subscriptions), RISE with SAP (managed migration to S/4HANA Cloud) adoption, operating margin expansion as the cloud transition delivers higher-margin recurring revenue, and SAP's AI integration across its enterprise application suite. |
WK strengths
- →ESG reporting wave creates mandatory adoption demand — new regulations (SEC climate disclosure, EU CSRD, ISSB standards) will require thousands of public companies to produce auditable ESG reports meeting investor-grade standards; Workiva's platform is purpose-built for exactly this need
- →Connected reporting platform with data lineage — Workiva's linked spreadsheet and document architecture ensures that when underlying financial or operational data changes, every report that references it updates automatically; this auditable data lineage is critical for SEC filings and audit requirements
- →Strong net revenue retention reflecting expansion — once deployed for SEC filings, customers expand Workiva to ESG reporting, internal audit, and risk management, increasing annual spend over time
SAP strengths
- →Unmatched enterprise ERP market position — SAP's installed base in Fortune 1000 companies is deeply embedded across decades of customization and integrations; switching ERP systems is a multi-year, billion-dollar project for large enterprises, making churn virtually non-existent
- →Cloud transition revenue shift improving quality — SAP's migration of on-premise ERP customers to RISE with SAP (S/4HANA Cloud) converts one-time license revenue to recurring subscription revenue, improving revenue quality and predictability
- →AI integration across business processes — SAP is embedding AI (Joule AI assistant) across its ERP suite, providing AI-powered business process automation that small SaaS vendors cannot match given SAP's data advantage from managing all core business operations
Risks to watch — WK
- →ESG regulatory uncertainty — political opposition to ESG reporting requirements (particularly in the U.S.) has slowed SEC climate disclosure rule implementation; if mandatory ESG reporting requirements are delayed or weakened, Workiva's key growth driver could underperform
- →Competition from Microsoft Excel/Word + traditional audit software — many companies still produce reports using Microsoft tools with manual processes; Workiva's value depends on customers recognizing the cost and risk of non-integrated reporting
- →SAP and Oracle building ESG capabilities into their ERP platforms — large ERP vendors are adding sustainability and ESG reporting modules to their existing enterprise software, potentially reducing Workiva's greenfield opportunity in their installed bases
Risks to watch — SAP
- →RISE with SAP cloud migration complexity — migrating large enterprises from decades-old on-premise SAP systems to S/4HANA Cloud is technically complex and expensive; migration pace is slower than SAP's early cloud transition goals
- →Competition from Oracle's cloud ERP (Oracle Fusion) and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for new ERP deployments — while SAP's installed base is sticky, competitive losses in new ERP selections and mid-market erode long-term market share
- →SAP's transition from license to subscription creates near-term revenue headwinds — recognized license revenue converts to recurring subscription revenue that is recognized over time rather than upfront, creating an S-curve that temporarily appears as revenue growth deceleration
Frequently asked questions
Free public comparison
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.
Related comparisons
More comparisons
Browse all 1,000 comparisons →