Software Stocks Sell-Off Due to AI Threats
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 5 hours ago
0mins
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- 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.
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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: 104.970
Low
172.00
Averages
222.81
High
263.00
Current: 104.970
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.
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
Palantir's Strong Financial Performance Amid High Expectations
- Significant Revenue Growth: Palantir's revenue grew 70% year-over-year in Q4, up from 63% in Q3 and 48% in Q2, indicating strong momentum driven by advancements in AI, which solidifies its competitive position in the market.
- Government Contract Expansion: The Department of Defense's decision to officially include Palantir's Maven system as a program of record by year-end will further expand and secure its strong U.S. government business, potentially boosted by additional defense spending initiated by the Trump administration.
- Valuation Challenges: With a forward P/E ratio of 113, Palantir faces significant pressure to exceed analysts' lofty expectations of growing earnings per share from $0.75 in 2025 to $2.65 in 2028, despite its strong financial performance.
- AI Strategic Advantage: Palantir's AI platform integrates large language models, lowering the learning curve for users and expanding the application scenarios of its core data decision-making platforms, further enhancing its irreplaceability in the enterprise software market.
See More
Microsoft Faces AI Growth Pressure as Stock Plummets
- Stock Plunge: Microsoft experienced a 23% drop in stock price during Q1, marking its worst quarterly performance since the 2008 financial crisis, significantly outpacing the Nasdaq's 7% decline, indicating investor concerns over its AI growth prospects that could impact future financing capabilities.
- AI Assistant Challenges: Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant has seen low user adoption, with only 3% of commercial Office customers holding licenses, forcing the company to allocate Azure cloud resources for improvements to maintain market share amid fierce competition.
- Executive Shake-up: Microsoft reassigned Copilot development head Mustafa Suleyman and appointed former Snap executive Jacob Andreou to lead the Copilot experience for consumers and commercial clients, raising market concerns about the company's strategic direction and potentially affecting team morale.
- Cloud Business Growth: Despite challenges, Microsoft's Azure cloud service achieved a 39% revenue growth in the December quarter, with commercial remaining performance obligations exceeding $625 billion, reflecting strong demand in the cloud infrastructure market that may support the company's future.
See More
Microsoft Faces Challenges as Stock Plummets 23% in Q1
- Disappointing Quarterly Performance: Microsoft experienced a staggering 23% drop in stock value during Q1 2023, marking its steepest decline since the 2008 financial crisis, reflecting investor concerns over its AI prospects and resulting in significant market capitalization loss.
- Concerns Over AI ROI: While Microsoft remains a leader in cloud computing and productivity software, its AI assistant Copilot has only achieved a 3% adoption rate among commercial Office customers, failing to meet market expectations and potentially hindering future revenue growth.
- Executive Shake-Up Impact: The recent reassignment of Copilot development head Mustafa Suleyman raises concerns about leadership effectiveness, especially as the new team faces intense competition from rivals like Google and OpenAI, which could affect the company's strategic direction.
- Strong Cloud Business Growth: Despite challenges, Microsoft's Azure cloud service reported a 39% revenue increase in the December quarter, with commercial remaining performance obligations exceeding $625 billion, indicating strong potential and demand in the AI sector.
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
Palantir's Strong Financial Performance Amid High Expectations
- Significant Revenue Growth: Palantir's revenue grew 70% year-over-year in Q4, up from 63% in Q3 and 48% in Q2, indicating strong momentum driven by advancements in AI, which solidifies its competitive position in the market.
- Government Contract Expansion: The Department of Defense's decision to officially include Palantir's Maven system as a program of record by year-end will further expand and secure its strong U.S. government business, potentially boosted by additional defense spending initiated by the Trump administration.
- Valuation Challenges: With a forward P/E ratio of 113, Palantir faces significant pressure to exceed analysts' lofty expectations of growing earnings per share from $0.75 in 2025 to $2.65 in 2028, despite its strong financial performance.
- AI Strategic Advantage: Palantir's AI platform integrates large language models, lowering the learning curve for users and expanding the application scenarios of its core data decision-making platforms, further enhancing its irreplaceability in the enterprise software market.
See More
Microsoft Faces AI Growth Pressure as Stock Plummets
- Stock Plunge: Microsoft experienced a 23% drop in stock price during Q1, marking its worst quarterly performance since the 2008 financial crisis, significantly outpacing the Nasdaq's 7% decline, indicating investor concerns over its AI growth prospects that could impact future financing capabilities.
- AI Assistant Challenges: Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant has seen low user adoption, with only 3% of commercial Office customers holding licenses, forcing the company to allocate Azure cloud resources for improvements to maintain market share amid fierce competition.
- Executive Shake-up: Microsoft reassigned Copilot development head Mustafa Suleyman and appointed former Snap executive Jacob Andreou to lead the Copilot experience for consumers and commercial clients, raising market concerns about the company's strategic direction and potentially affecting team morale.
- Cloud Business Growth: Despite challenges, Microsoft's Azure cloud service achieved a 39% revenue growth in the December quarter, with commercial remaining performance obligations exceeding $625 billion, reflecting strong demand in the cloud infrastructure market that may support the company's future.
See More
Microsoft Faces Challenges as Stock Plummets 23% in Q1
- Disappointing Quarterly Performance: Microsoft experienced a staggering 23% drop in stock value during Q1 2023, marking its steepest decline since the 2008 financial crisis, reflecting investor concerns over its AI prospects and resulting in significant market capitalization loss.
- Concerns Over AI ROI: While Microsoft remains a leader in cloud computing and productivity software, its AI assistant Copilot has only achieved a 3% adoption rate among commercial Office customers, failing to meet market expectations and potentially hindering future revenue growth.
- Executive Shake-Up Impact: The recent reassignment of Copilot development head Mustafa Suleyman raises concerns about leadership effectiveness, especially as the new team faces intense competition from rivals like Google and OpenAI, which could affect the company's strategic direction.
- Strong Cloud Business Growth: Despite challenges, Microsoft's Azure cloud service reported a 39% revenue increase in the December quarter, with commercial remaining performance obligations exceeding $625 billion, indicating strong potential and demand in the AI sector.
See More
