ServiceNow (NOW) — Company Research

Last Updated: 06 Oct 2026

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) sells a cloud platform that large organisations use to run workflows across IT, employee services, customer service, security and finance. Its best-known product manages IT service requests and incidents, and the company has built outwards into customer relationship management, security and, increasingly, AI agents that complete tasks on their own. Almost all revenue comes from subscriptions.

FY2025 revenue was $13,278m, up 21%, with GAAP net income of $1,748m and free cash flow of $4,636m (company figure). In Q2 2026 subscription revenue rose 24.5% to $3,877m, and on 22 Jul 2026 management raised its FY2026 subscription revenue guidance to $15,760–15,780m. ServiceNow has changed shape in the past year: it split its shares 5-for-1 on 17 Dec 2025, closed the purchases of Moveworks, Veza and Armis (about $7.6bn), and borrowed to pay for them. The shares closed at $136.08 on 05 Oct 2026, a market value of about $140.7bn.

This refresh draws on ServiceNow's quarterly press releases (SEC 8-K exhibits), the FY2025 Form 10-K, the Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, SEC XBRL company facts and Form 4 filings, all retrieved on 06 Oct 2026. It replaces the version last updated on 01 Jun 2026. All per-share figures are on the post-split basis. Follow the price on ChartsView Live Charts.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Full name	ServiceNow, Inc.
Ticker	NOW (NYSE)
Sector	Technology: enterprise workflow software, AI agents and IT service management
CEO / Leadership	Bill McDermott (Chairman and CEO); Gina Mastantuono (President and CFO); Amit Zavery (President, Chief Product Officer and COO)
Market cap	~$140.7bn (1,033.9m shares × $136.08 at the 05 Oct 2026 close)
Revenue (FY2025)	$13,278m (+21% YoY); subscription revenue $12,883m
Net income (FY2025)	$1,748m GAAP; GAAP diluted EPS $1.67; non-GAAP diluted EPS $3.51
Employees	29,187 at 31 Dec 2025 (FY2025 10-K)
Scale	About 8,700 customers; 658 customers paying more than $5m a year (+23%); current remaining performance obligations $13.20bn at 30 Jun 2026 (+21%)
Fiscal year	Calendar year (FY2026 ends 31 Dec 2026)
Dividend	None

2. Bull Case vs Bear Case

Distilled from the full report below. Factual only, no ratings.

Bull Case

• Growth above 20% at scale: Q2 2026 subscription revenue rose 24.5% to $3,877m, including Armis from 20 Apr 2026, and FY2026 subscription revenue guidance was raised twice, to $15,760–15,780m (+22.5%).
• AI is now a billion-dollar line: ServiceNow said its AI products passed $1bn of annual contract value in Q2 2026, and it is targeting 30% of contract value from AI by 2030.
• Heavy cash generation: Operating cash flow was $5,444m in FY2025 and company-defined free cash flow $4,636m, a 35% margin. Management guides to the same 35% margin for FY2026.
• Platform widening into security: Armis and Veza add asset visibility and identity security. ServiceNow launched six Autonomous Security products built on them on 04 Aug 2026.
• Deep large-customer base: 658 customers pay more than $5m a year, up about 23%, and the company signed 123 deals worth more than $1m in net new annual contract value in Q2 2026.

Bear Case

• Debt-funded acquisitions: Total borrowings rose from $1,491m at the end of 2025 to about $7,517m at 30 Jun 2026 ($5,435m of long-term debt plus $2,082m of short-term borrowings) to pay for Armis.
• GAAP margins squeezed: Q2 2026 GAAP operating margin was 4% ($162m), against 11% a year earlier, as acquired intangibles were amortised. Q2 GAAP EPS fell to $0.29 from $0.37.
• Slowing growth guided: Q3 2026 subscription revenue guidance implies 20.5% growth even with Armis included, below Q2's 24.5%. Management's FY2025 10-K says revenue growth is expected to decline over time.
• AI disruption fears hit the shares: The stock fell from a 52-week high of $192.97 on 30 Oct 2025 to $81.24 on 10 Apr 2026 as investors questioned whether AI agents would reduce demand for seat-based software.
• High multiple on GAAP earnings: The shares trade at about 85x trailing GAAP EPS of $1.60 and about 52x trailing EV/EBITDA.

3. What Does This Company Actually Do?

ServiceNow's Now Platform lets companies digitise and automate work that crosses departments: an employee requesting a laptop, a customer reporting a fault, a security team patching a vulnerable device. Products share a single platform and data model, with AI assistants and agents built in. ServiceNow reports one operating segment; the disclosed revenue categories are below.

Segment / category	% of revenue	What it is
Subscription	97.0% ($12,883m, FY2025)	Access to the Now Platform and its workflow, AI and security products, recognised evenly over the contract term
Professional services and other	3.0% ($395m, FY2025)	Implementation, consulting and training to help customers deploy the platform

FY2025 figures from the FY2025 Form 10-K; percentages are ChartsView calculations.

By geography (FY2025 10-K):

• North America: $8,348m (62.9%);
• Europe, Middle East and Africa: $3,402m (25.6%);
• Asia Pacific and other: $1,528m (11.5%).

4. The Business Model

How it makes money. Customers sign multi-year subscriptions and ServiceNow recognises the revenue evenly over the term. Contracted revenue not yet recognised (remaining performance obligations) was $29.0bn at 30 Jun 2026, of which $13.20bn is due within twelve months. Growth comes from new customers, from existing customers adding products and users, and increasingly from AI products such as Now Assist. Non-GAAP subscription gross margin is guided at 81% for FY2026, so most extra revenue drops through to operating profit and cash flow.

Where the moat sits. ServiceNow's advantages are:

• switching costs: once IT, HR and customer service processes run on the platform, replacing it is costly and risky;
• a single platform and data model, so new products can be sold into the existing base;
• a large partner network, including Accenture, Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, NVIDIA, Anthropic and OpenAI;
• about 8,700 customers, including 658 paying more than $5m a year.

What changed in 2025–2026. ServiceNow moved from organic growth to large acquisitions. It closed Moveworks (AI assistant, 15 Dec 2025), Veza (identity security, about $1.2bn, 02 Mar 2026) and Armis (asset and cyber exposure management, about $7.6bn preliminary consideration, 20 Apr 2026). It financed Armis with a $4bn term loan, then refinanced with about $3.9bn of senior notes in May 2026 and commercial paper. It also split its stock 5-for-1, and in Jan 2026 added $5bn to its buyback authorisation, including a $2bn accelerated share repurchase executed in Q1 2026. At its Financial Analyst Day on 04 May 2026 it set a 2030 goal of more than $30bn of subscription revenue.

5. Financial Health

Sources: ServiceNow quarterly press releases (SEC 8-K exhibits and Business Wire), the FY2025 Form 10-K, the Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, and SEC XBRL company facts (data.sec.gov) for revenue, EPS, debt, cash flow, D&A and operating income. Per-share figures before Dec 2025 are divided by five for the 5-for-1 split.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021	$5,896m	+30%	$0.23	$1.18	$0.00	$1,484m
FY2022	$7,245m	+23%	$0.32	$1.52	$0.00	$1,486m
FY2023	$8,971m	+24%	$1.68	$2.16	$0.00	$1,488m
FY2024	$10,984m	+22%	$1.37	$2.78	$0.00	$1,489m
FY2025	$13,278m	+21%	$1.67	$3.51	$0.00	$1,491m

Notes on the annual table:

• Adjusted EPS is ServiceNow's non-GAAP diluted EPS, which excludes stock-based compensation, amortisation of acquired intangibles and other items. FY2024 is as restated in the Q4 2025 release, after gains and losses on strategic investments were excluded from non-GAAP results; earlier years are as first reported, divided by five.
• Long-term debt is the net carrying value of ServiceNow's senior notes (XBRL ConvertibleLongTermNotesPayable and LongTermDebt). At 30 Jun 2026 long-term debt was $5,435m, plus $2,082m of short-term borrowings, after the Armis financing.

Quarterly results (most recent first)

Quarter / Half	Revenue	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
Q2 2026 (to 30 Jun 2026)	$3,987m	$0.90	$0.29
Q1 2026 (to 31 Mar 2026)	$3,770m	$0.97	$0.45
Q4 2025 (to 31 Dec 2025)	$3,568m	$0.92	$0.38
Q3 2025 (to 30 Sep 2025)	$3,407m	$0.96	$0.48
Q2 2025 (to 30 Jun 2025)	$3,215m	$0.81	$0.37
Q1 2025 (to 31 Mar 2025)	$3,088m	$0.82†	$0.44
FY2025 total	$13,278m	$3.51	$1.67

Notes on the quarterly table:

• Release dates: Q2 2026 on 22 Jul 2026; Q1 2026 on 22 Apr 2026; Q4 2025 on 28 Jan 2026; Q3 2025 on 29 Oct 2025.
• † Derived by ChartsView as the FY2025 non-GAAP EPS of $3.51 less the three later quarters. Q2 2025 non-GAAP EPS is the comparative shown in the Q2 2026 release. GAAP EPS for Q1 and Q2 2025 is the split-adjusted figure from SEC XBRL.
• Q2 2026 in more detail:
  • subscription revenue $3,877m (+24.5%; +23% in constant currency);
  • GAAP operating income $162m (4% margin), non-GAAP operating margin 29.5%;
  • GAAP results include $273m of gains on strategic investments and a $51m tax valuation allowance release.

Cash flow and balance sheet.

• Cash flow (FY2025).
  • Operating cash flow was $5,444m and purchases of property and equipment $868m, giving free cash flow of $4,576m on that definition. ServiceNow reports $4,636m, a 35% margin.
  • D&A was $738m and GAAP operating income $1,824m (13.7% margin). Stock-based compensation was $1,955m.
• Cash flow (H1 2026).
  • Operating cash flow was $2,257m, capex $255m and D&A $665m, of which $296m was amortisation of intangibles. GAAP operating income was $665m.
  • Over the twelve months to 30 Jun 2026, operating cash flow was $5,308m and capex $728m, giving free cash flow of $4,580m.
• Balance sheet at 30 Jun 2026.
  • Cash and cash equivalents were $2,503m and short-term investments $2,161m, a total of $4,664m.
  • Long-term debt was $5,435m and short-term borrowings, mainly commercial paper, $2,082m. Goodwill was $9,837m after the acquisitions.
  • No shares were repurchased in Q2 2026; about $4.2bn of buyback authorisation remained after Q1.
• FY2026 guidance (22 Jul 2026):
  • subscription revenue of $15,760–15,780m (+22.5%; +21% in constant currency);
  • non-GAAP subscription gross margin of 81%;
  • non-GAAP operating margin of 31.5% (GAAP 10%);
  • free cash flow margin of 35%;
  • Q3 2026 subscription revenue of $3,975–3,980m (+20.5%) and a 31% non-GAAP operating margin.

6. Valuation & Market Data

Raw metrics, October 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~$140.7bn (1,033.9m shares × $136.08 at the 05 Oct 2026 close)
Enterprise value	~$143.5bn = market cap ~$140.7bn + total debt ~$7.52bn (long-term debt $5,435m + short-term borrowings $2,082m) − cash and short-term investments ~$4.66bn ($2,503m + $2,161m), per the 30 Jun 2026 balance sheet
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~85.0x ($136.08 / trailing GAAP diluted EPS of $1.60: FY2025 $1.67 less H1 2025 $0.81 plus H1 2026 $0.74). On trailing non-GAAP EPS of $3.75 (Q3 2025 to Q2 2026) the multiple is ~36.3x.
P/E (forward)	~36.4x ($136.08 / $3.74, which is H1 2026 non-GAAP EPS of $1.87 annualised). ServiceNow does not give EPS guidance; its FY2026 guide is a 31.5% non-GAAP operating margin on about 1.04bn diluted shares.
P/S (TTM)	~9.6x (market cap / revenue of $14,732m over the twelve months to 30 Jun 2026)
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	~52.2x (EV ~$143.5bn / EBITDA ~$2,751m). EBITDA = trailing GAAP operating income $1,680m (FY2025 $1,824m less H1 2025 $809m plus H1 2026 $665m) + trailing D&A $1,071m (the wider XBRL DepreciationDepletionAndAmortization total, including intangible amortisation). GAAP operating income is depressed by Armis acquisition costs.
P/FCF	~30.7x (market cap ~$140.7bn / trailing FCF ~$4.58bn). FCF = operating cash flow $5,308m − capex $728m, for the twelve months to 30 Jun 2026.
52-week high	$192.97 (intraday, 30 Oct 2025, split-adjusted)
52-week low	$81.24 (intraday, 10 Apr 2026)
Short interest (% of float)	2.79% (28.77m shares, settlement date 15 Sep 2026, per MarketBeat)
Days to cover	2.0 (MarketBeat, 15 Sep 2026)
Dividend yield	Nil (no dividend)

Price-based metrics use the 05 Oct 2026 close. The 52-week range is from Yahoo Finance daily bars. For live prices see ChartsView Live Charts.

7. What Are They Building

AI agents and the control layer.

• ServiceNow Otto: Launched at Knowledge in May 2026, Otto brings Now Assist, Moveworks and ServiceNow's AI experience into one assistant for employees and customers.
• AI Control Tower: This governs and monitors AI agents, including those from other vendors, and now includes an AI Gateway. In its 01 Oct 2026 release ServiceNow described itself as a "Super Intelligence Control Tower".
• Autonomous Workforce and Build Agent: Autonomous Workforce provides AI specialists for IT, CRM, employee service and security. Build Agent, now generally available, lets developers build ServiceNow apps from coding tools such as Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code and GitHub Copilot. Action Fabric, with Anthropic as first design partner, lets outside AI systems trigger ServiceNow workflows.

Flow by ServiceNow. Launched on 01 Oct 2026, Flow is a standalone conversational AI service desk that runs inside Slack and Microsoft Teams. Companies can buy it without the wider ServiceNow platform. General availability in North America and EMEA is expected in Q4 2026.

Security. Autonomous Security, launched on 04 Aug 2026, is a set of six security products built on Armis, Veza and AI Control Tower. More AI capabilities are due in Dec 2026.

CRM and data. ServiceNow is pushing into front-office CRM, alongside Workflow Data Fabric and its RaptorDB database. Its Q4 2025 release cited Raptor and CPQ (configure, price, quote) as outperforming. The Moveworks-based EmployeeWorks product went live at INRY in six weeks, the company said on 23 Sep 2026.

8. Competitive Landscape

Peer	Market cap (Oct 2026)	Key 2025 metric
Microsoft (MSFT)	~$3,900bn	FY2026 (to Jun 2026) revenue $331.84bn (+17.8%) (StockAnalysis, from company filings)
SAP (SAP)	~$239.8bn	2025 revenue €36.80bn (+7.7%) (StockAnalysis, from company filings)
Salesforce (CRM)	~$189.1bn	FY2026 (to Jan 2026) revenue $41.53bn (+9.6%) (StockAnalysis, from company filings)
Atlassian (TEAM)	~$49.8bn	FY2026 (to Jun 2026) revenue $6.57bn (+26.0%) (StockAnalysis, from company filings)
Workday (WDAY)	~$45.5bn	FY2026 (to Jan 2026) revenue $9.55bn (+13.1%) (StockAnalysis, from company filings)

Market caps are at the 05 Oct 2026 close from Yahoo Finance and StockAnalysis quote pages. In security, Armis and Veza bring ServiceNow into competition with cyber exposure and identity security vendors.

9. Leadership and Ownership

Bill McDermott is Chairman and CEO. Gina Mastantuono is President and CFO. Leadership changes in 2026 include Hossein Nowbar as President and Chief Legal Officer (Jan 2026), Danielle Fontaine as Chief Accounting Officer (Feb 2026) and Simon Mouyal, formerly Armis's marketing chief, as Chief Marketing Officer (Aug 2026). McDermott made no open-market sales or purchases in the period below; his only reported transaction was shares withheld for tax when restricted stock vested. All other insider transactions were sales.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Paul Fipps (President, Global Customer Operations)	31 Aug 2026	Sale	2,034	~$147.87	~$0.30m	Outside a 10b5-1 plan (per filing summary)
Jacqueline Canney (Chief People and AI Enablement Officer)	28 Aug 2026	Sale	7,847	$138.00	~$1.08m	10b5-1 (adopted 29 May 2026)
Paul Chamberlain (director)	27 Aug 2026	Sale	2,700	~$135.50 (avg)	~$0.37m	Not stated
Bill McDermott (Chairman and CEO)	17 Aug 2026	Shares withheld for tax on RSU vesting	2,236	$117.70	~$0.26m	Not a market sale
Paul Chamberlain (director)	13 Aug 2026	Sale	1,500	$125.60	~$0.19m	10b5-1 (adopted 29 Aug 2025)
Paul Fipps (President, Global Customer Operations)	18 May 2026	Sale	1,048	$98.51	~$0.10m	10b5-1 (adopted 19 Nov 2025)
Anita Sands (director)	14 May 2026	Sale	16,445	$90.14	~$1.48m	10b5-1 box not checked

Sources: SEC Form 4 filings on EDGAR and StockTitan filing summaries. Share counts are post-split. Director Teresa Briggs also reported a sale of 1,595 shares in Jun 2026. No insider purchases were found.

10. Risks and Challenges

• Acquisition integration (Operational): ServiceNow spent about $11bn on Moveworks, Veza and Armis within about four months. Goodwill rose to $9,837m, and some Armis contracts can be cancelled for convenience. Poor integration would waste capital and could lead to impairments.
• Higher debt (Financial): Borrowings rose to about $7.5bn at 30 Jun 2026, from $1.5bn at the end of 2025, including commercial paper that must be rolled over. Net debt is still modest against $4.6bn of trailing free cash flow, but interest costs and refinancing risk have risen.
• AI changing software demand (Competitive): If AI agents reduce the number of human users, seat-based pricing could come under pressure, and AI-native rivals or the hyperscalers could build competing agents. This concern drove the share price down to $81.24 in Apr 2026.
• Competition (Competitive): Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, Workday and Atlassian compete in CRM, employee service and IT workflows, and ServiceNow's move into CRM and security brings it up against more established vendors.
• Slowing growth and margin dilution (Financial): Q3 2026 guidance implies 20.5% subscription growth including acquisitions, and Armis was guided to cut FY2026 operating margin by about 0.75 points and free cash flow margin by about 2 points.
• Macro, FX and deal timing (Macro): Conflict in the Middle East delayed large on-premise deals in Q1 2026, cutting subscription growth by about 0.75 points. Currency moves and the timing of US federal contracts also affect results.
• Cyber-security and data rules (Regulatory): The platform holds sensitive data for thousands of large organisations. A breach, an outage or new AI and data-protection rules such as the EU Data Act could bring liability and costs.

11. Recent Developments

• 01 Oct 2026 — Flow by ServiceNow launched. ServiceNow introduced a standalone AI service desk that runs in Slack and Microsoft Teams and can be bought without the wider platform. It also co-hosted the Fortune AIQ Summit at the New York Stock Exchange that day.
• 23 Sep 2026 — EmployeeWorks deployment. ServiceNow said INRY deployed its Moveworks-based EmployeeWorks assistant in six weeks.
• 22 Sep 2026 — Xapien partnership. ServiceNow partnered with Xapien to bring AI-driven due diligence into its workflows.
• 14 Sep 2026 — Shares rise 7.4%. The stock closed at $142.35 after prominent AI figures called for slower AI development; Invezz linked the move to easing fears of rapid AI disruption to software companies.
• 20 Aug 2026 — Tech Mahindra partnership expanded. The two companies expanded their partnership to deliver ServiceNow solutions to enterprise customers.
• 04 Aug 2026 — Autonomous Security launched. ServiceNow released six security products built on Armis, Veza and AI Control Tower.
• 03 Aug 2026 — New Chief Marketing Officer. Simon Mouyal, previously Armis's marketing chief, was named CMO.
• 22 Jul 2026 — Q2 2026 beat and raise. Subscription revenue rose 24.5% to $3,877m and non-GAAP EPS was $0.90. FY2026 subscription revenue guidance went up to $15,760–15,780m. The shares rose about 7% after hours but reversed to close at $95.46 on 23 Jul.

12. Key Dates Coming Up

• Expected 28 Oct 2026 — Q3 2026 results after the US market close. The date comes from market calendars and ServiceNow has not yet confirmed it; Q3 2025 results came on 29 Oct 2025. Guidance is subscription revenue of $3,975–3,980m and a 31% non-GAAP operating margin.
• Expected Dec 2026 — Further AI capabilities for Autonomous Security, and general availability of Flow in North America and EMEA during Q4 2026.
• 31 Dec 2026 — FY2026 year-end. Guidance is subscription revenue of $15,760–15,780m and a 35% free cash flow margin.
• Expected Jan 2027 — Q4 and FY2026 results; FY2025 results came on 28 Jan 2026.
• Expected 04 May 2027 — Knowledge 2027 customer conference in Las Vegas, 04–06 May 2027, according to event listings.

Macro events are on the ChartsView Economic Calendar, and you can discuss ServiceNow on the ChartsView Forum.

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