(Reuters) -Business software maker SAP on Wednesday reaffirmed its full-year outlook for its key cloud business revenue after slightly missing analyst expectations in the third quarter.

Cloud revenue rose by 16% in the third quarter on the back of its application services and HANA software to 3.47 billion euros ($3.66 billion).

According to forecasts compiled by data provider Visible Alpha on behalf of the company, analysts had predicted cloud revenue rising by 18% in the quarter to 3.525 billion euros.

Orders on hand in the cloud business grew by 25% in constant currency, as in the same period last year, according to SAP.

Shares were up 1.8% in early trade on Thursday.

"The weak spot cloud revenues should cap a too positive share price reaction," said Alpha Wertpapiershandels GmbH analysts.

For the full year, the company reaffirmed its cloud revenue outlook in the range of 14 billion-14.2 billion euros.

"Our Q3 results demonstrate strong execution and the resilience of our business, including sustained cloud growth in spite of persisting macro headwinds," finance chief Dominik Asam said.

($1 = 0.9491 euros)

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru and Hakan ErsanWriting by Miranda MurrayEditing by Shailesh Kuber and Friederike Heine)