Benchmark Initiates Coverage of ServiceNow with Buy Rating
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1 hour ago
0mins
Should l Buy NOW?
Source: seekingalpha
- Coverage Initiation: Benchmark has initiated coverage of ServiceNow (NOW) with a Buy rating and a $125 price target, anticipating that its cloud architecture platform will unlock enterprise collaboration potential through digital transformation, despite a ~45% decline in stock price since January 2025.
- AI Integration Advantage: The analyst believes that ServiceNow's flexible open architecture and large language model data sources will benefit as AI tokens transition from pilot phases to embedding in daily mission-critical workflows, further solidifying its market leadership.
- Acquisition Strategy Expansion: ServiceNow's busy M&A schedule will enhance its technology roadmap and expand Total Addressable Market (TAM) potential, with acquisitions like Armis/Veza and Moveworks boosting its security domain and AI assistant capabilities, expected to drive market expansion beyond $600 billion.
- Market Opportunity Capture: The analyst asserts that the current market selloff driven by AI/GenAI disruption concerns is unwarranted, presenting an attractive entry point for investors, as ServiceNow's dominant position in global organizational workflows will create a symbiotic relationship with leading AI providers.
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Analyst Views on NOW
Wall Street analysts forecast NOW stock price to rise
32 Analyst Rating
30 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 104.550
Low
172.00
Averages
222.81
High
263.00
Current: 104.550
Low
172.00
Averages
222.81
High
263.00
About NOW
ServiceNow, Inc. provides an artificial intelligence (AI) platform for business transformation. The Company’s AI platform connects people, processes, data, and devices to increase productivity and maximize business outcomes. Its intelligent platform, the Now Platform, is a cloud-based solution that helps enterprises and organizations across public and private sectors digitize workflows. The workflow applications built on the Now Platform are organized into four primary areas: Technology, CRM and Industry, Core Business and Creator. Its products include IT Service Management, IT Operations Management, HR Service Delivery, ServiceNow AI Agents, AI Experience, Build Agent, ServiceNow AI Control Tower, AI Agent Fabric, RaptorDB, Workflow Data Fabric, Workplace Service Delivery, ServiceNow Platform Encryption, Telecommunications Service Operations Management, and others. The Company also offers identity security, helping organizations secure access across the enterprise.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
ServiceNow to Release Q1 2026 Financial Results on April 22
- Earnings Release Schedule: ServiceNow announced it will release its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, after market close on April 22, 2026, reflecting the company's commitment to transparency and investor communication.
- Conference Call Details: The company will host a conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (21:00 GMT) on the same day, providing an opportunity for real-time discussion of financial results, thereby enhancing investor engagement.
- Access Information: Investors can join the call by dialing (888) 330-2455 or (240) 789-2717, ensuring that global investors can easily access information, which demonstrates the company's focus on its worldwide investor base.
- Replay Availability: An audio replay will be available two hours after the call and accessible for 30 days, further enhancing information accessibility and transparency, helping investors better understand the company's financial performance.
See More
Benchmark Initiates Coverage of ServiceNow with Buy Rating
- Coverage Initiation: Benchmark has initiated coverage of ServiceNow (NOW) with a Buy rating and a $125 price target, anticipating that its cloud architecture platform will unlock enterprise collaboration potential through digital transformation, despite a ~45% decline in stock price since January 2025.
- AI Integration Advantage: The analyst believes that ServiceNow's flexible open architecture and large language model data sources will benefit as AI tokens transition from pilot phases to embedding in daily mission-critical workflows, further solidifying its market leadership.
- Acquisition Strategy Expansion: ServiceNow's busy M&A schedule will enhance its technology roadmap and expand Total Addressable Market (TAM) potential, with acquisitions like Armis/Veza and Moveworks boosting its security domain and AI assistant capabilities, expected to drive market expansion beyond $600 billion.
- Market Opportunity Capture: The analyst asserts that the current market selloff driven by AI/GenAI disruption concerns is unwarranted, presenting an attractive entry point for investors, as ServiceNow's dominant position in global organizational workflows will create a symbiotic relationship with leading AI providers.
See More
AI Customer Service Faces Consumer Discontent
- Poor User Experience: According to the Qualtrics 2026 Customer Experience Trends Report, nearly one in five consumers reported no benefits from using AI for customer service, a failure rate almost four times higher than general AI use, indicating significant barriers in AI's application in customer service.
- Corporate Motivation Issues: Ben Wiener from Cognizant highlights that AI does not change corporate incentives but amplifies existing cost-cutting strategies, resulting in a customer service experience that fails to improve and often frustrates customers.
- Limitations of Automation: Research shows many conversations with AI still escalate to human agents, and when AI cannot resolve issues or clearly explain decisions, customers often perceive it as an additional barrier rather than a solution.
- Market Outlook: Zendesk CEO Tom Eggemeier predicts that within three years, 50% of digital customer service interactions will be handled by AI, rising to 80% within five years, indicating ongoing investment and application of AI in customer service by businesses.
See More
Investment Opportunities Amid AI Disruption
- ServiceNow's Strategic Response: Despite a 35% stock drop in 2026, ServiceNow has enhanced its platform's competitiveness by launching an autonomous workforce product that utilizes AI to handle over 90% of employee IT requests, thereby maintaining its market position in the AI era.
- Sustained Revenue Growth: ServiceNow reported a 21% year-over-year growth in Q4 2025, with sales reaching $3.6 billion, and expects a 22% increase in subscription sales in Q1 2026, demonstrating strong business resilience.
- Salesforce's AI Integration: Salesforce achieved record revenue of $11.2 billion in Q4 fiscal 2026, with Agentforce's annual recurring revenue soaring 169% year-over-year to $800 million, indicating high customer adoption of its AI solutions.
- Attractive Investment Timing: With both companies' stock prices nearing 52-week lows, the current drop in their price-to-earnings ratios presents an appealing investment opportunity in ServiceNow and Salesforce, especially given their ongoing healthy business performance.
See More
Software Stocks Sell-Off Due to AI Threats
- Market Reaction: In 2026, Wall Street's fears that AI could render some software companies obsolete led to a significant sell-off in software stocks, with ServiceNow and Salesforce experiencing declines of 35% and 32% respectively, reflecting a pessimistic outlook on their future prospects.
- AI Integration: Despite the threats, ServiceNow has enhanced its market competitiveness by launching an autonomous workforce product that utilizes data and knowledge from its platform, enabling AI agents to handle over 90% of employee IT requests, thus improving efficiency.
- Financial Performance: ServiceNow reported a 21% year-over-year growth in Q4 2025, with sales reaching $3.6 billion, including $3.5 billion in subscriptions, indicating stable recurring revenue, and it expects Q1 2026 subscription sales to rise by 22% to around $3.7 billion.
- Salesforce Growth: Salesforce achieved record revenue of $11.2 billion in Q4 fiscal 2026, with Agentforce's annual recurring revenue increasing by 169% year-over-year to $800 million, demonstrating growing customer adoption of its AI solutions, while also raising its dividend by 6% to $0.44 per share in February, enhancing its investment appeal.
See More
Palantir and ServiceNow: AI Competition Insights
- Palantir's Strong Performance: Palantir's revenue grew 70% year-over-year in Q4, showcasing its advantages in AI, particularly with government contracts, which are expected to further solidify its market position.
- Government Contracts Boost: The U.S. Department of Defense plans to officially designate Palantir's Maven system as a program of record, enhancing its standing in U.S. government business and potentially leading to more contracts due to increased defense spending.
- ServiceNow's Growth Potential: With a customer retention rate of 98%, ServiceNow's NowAssist generative AI product generated $600 billion in contract value last year, with expectations to exceed $1 billion this year, indicating strong market demand.
- Impact of AI Strategy: Although ServiceNow anticipates only 20% subscription revenue growth in 2026, its management's upward revision of operating margin expectations to 32% suggests that its AI strategy could drive performance beyond expectations.
See More
ServiceNow to Release Q1 2026 Financial Results on April 22
- Earnings Release Schedule: ServiceNow announced it will release its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, after market close on April 22, 2026, reflecting the company's commitment to transparency and investor communication.
- Conference Call Details: The company will host a conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (21:00 GMT) on the same day, providing an opportunity for real-time discussion of financial results, thereby enhancing investor engagement.
- Access Information: Investors can join the call by dialing (888) 330-2455 or (240) 789-2717, ensuring that global investors can easily access information, which demonstrates the company's focus on its worldwide investor base.
- Replay Availability: An audio replay will be available two hours after the call and accessible for 30 days, further enhancing information accessibility and transparency, helping investors better understand the company's financial performance.
See More
Benchmark Initiates Coverage of ServiceNow with Buy Rating
- Coverage Initiation: Benchmark has initiated coverage of ServiceNow (NOW) with a Buy rating and a $125 price target, anticipating that its cloud architecture platform will unlock enterprise collaboration potential through digital transformation, despite a ~45% decline in stock price since January 2025.
- AI Integration Advantage: The analyst believes that ServiceNow's flexible open architecture and large language model data sources will benefit as AI tokens transition from pilot phases to embedding in daily mission-critical workflows, further solidifying its market leadership.
- Acquisition Strategy Expansion: ServiceNow's busy M&A schedule will enhance its technology roadmap and expand Total Addressable Market (TAM) potential, with acquisitions like Armis/Veza and Moveworks boosting its security domain and AI assistant capabilities, expected to drive market expansion beyond $600 billion.
- Market Opportunity Capture: The analyst asserts that the current market selloff driven by AI/GenAI disruption concerns is unwarranted, presenting an attractive entry point for investors, as ServiceNow's dominant position in global organizational workflows will create a symbiotic relationship with leading AI providers.
See More
AI Customer Service Faces Consumer Discontent
- Poor User Experience: According to the Qualtrics 2026 Customer Experience Trends Report, nearly one in five consumers reported no benefits from using AI for customer service, a failure rate almost four times higher than general AI use, indicating significant barriers in AI's application in customer service.
- Corporate Motivation Issues: Ben Wiener from Cognizant highlights that AI does not change corporate incentives but amplifies existing cost-cutting strategies, resulting in a customer service experience that fails to improve and often frustrates customers.
- Limitations of Automation: Research shows many conversations with AI still escalate to human agents, and when AI cannot resolve issues or clearly explain decisions, customers often perceive it as an additional barrier rather than a solution.
- Market Outlook: Zendesk CEO Tom Eggemeier predicts that within three years, 50% of digital customer service interactions will be handled by AI, rising to 80% within five years, indicating ongoing investment and application of AI in customer service by businesses.
See More
Investment Opportunities Amid AI Disruption
- ServiceNow's Strategic Response: Despite a 35% stock drop in 2026, ServiceNow has enhanced its platform's competitiveness by launching an autonomous workforce product that utilizes AI to handle over 90% of employee IT requests, thereby maintaining its market position in the AI era.
- Sustained Revenue Growth: ServiceNow reported a 21% year-over-year growth in Q4 2025, with sales reaching $3.6 billion, and expects a 22% increase in subscription sales in Q1 2026, demonstrating strong business resilience.
- Salesforce's AI Integration: Salesforce achieved record revenue of $11.2 billion in Q4 fiscal 2026, with Agentforce's annual recurring revenue soaring 169% year-over-year to $800 million, indicating high customer adoption of its AI solutions.
- Attractive Investment Timing: With both companies' stock prices nearing 52-week lows, the current drop in their price-to-earnings ratios presents an appealing investment opportunity in ServiceNow and Salesforce, especially given their ongoing healthy business performance.
See More
Software Stocks Sell-Off Due to AI Threats
- Market Reaction: In 2026, Wall Street's fears that AI could render some software companies obsolete led to a significant sell-off in software stocks, with ServiceNow and Salesforce experiencing declines of 35% and 32% respectively, reflecting a pessimistic outlook on their future prospects.
- AI Integration: Despite the threats, ServiceNow has enhanced its market competitiveness by launching an autonomous workforce product that utilizes data and knowledge from its platform, enabling AI agents to handle over 90% of employee IT requests, thus improving efficiency.
- Financial Performance: ServiceNow reported a 21% year-over-year growth in Q4 2025, with sales reaching $3.6 billion, including $3.5 billion in subscriptions, indicating stable recurring revenue, and it expects Q1 2026 subscription sales to rise by 22% to around $3.7 billion.
- Salesforce Growth: Salesforce achieved record revenue of $11.2 billion in Q4 fiscal 2026, with Agentforce's annual recurring revenue increasing by 169% year-over-year to $800 million, demonstrating growing customer adoption of its AI solutions, while also raising its dividend by 6% to $0.44 per share in February, enhancing its investment appeal.
See More
Palantir and ServiceNow: AI Competition Insights
- Palantir's Strong Performance: Palantir's revenue grew 70% year-over-year in Q4, showcasing its advantages in AI, particularly with government contracts, which are expected to further solidify its market position.
- Government Contracts Boost: The U.S. Department of Defense plans to officially designate Palantir's Maven system as a program of record, enhancing its standing in U.S. government business and potentially leading to more contracts due to increased defense spending.
- ServiceNow's Growth Potential: With a customer retention rate of 98%, ServiceNow's NowAssist generative AI product generated $600 billion in contract value last year, with expectations to exceed $1 billion this year, indicating strong market demand.
- Impact of AI Strategy: Although ServiceNow anticipates only 20% subscription revenue growth in 2026, its management's upward revision of operating margin expectations to 32% suggests that its AI strategy could drive performance beyond expectations.
See More
