ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $108.73, but opened at $118.48. ServiceNow shares last traded at $121.5950, with a volume of 14,098,669 shares.

ServiceNow News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ServiceNow this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partner Snowflake’s strong earnings are helping lift sentiment across AI and enterprise software names, and ServiceNow is benefiting from the read-through as a workflow platform closely tied to AI adoption. ServiceNow Stock (NOW) Gets a Boost from Snowflake Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Wipro expanded its partnership with ServiceNow to deploy agentic AI workflows across enterprise functions, reinforcing demand for ServiceNow’s automation tools and suggesting growing commercial traction for its AI strategy. Wipro stock gains 4%: can its ServiceNow tie-up drive growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports note unusually strong call-option activity in NOW, which can signal traders are positioning for further upside. ServiceNow Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:NOW)
• Neutral Sentiment: ServiceNow’s Chief Marketing Officer Colin Fleming is leaving to join OpenAI, a move that may raise questions about leadership turnover, but it also highlights the company’s relevance in the AI ecosystem. ServiceNow Stock Is Trending Higher After CMO Joins OpenAI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary continues to focus on whether ServiceNow can maintain growth amid rising AI competition, with investors watching whether governance, security and enterprise integration can keep it winning budgets. Can ServiceNow Sustain Its Growth Amid Rising AI Competition?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore raised their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wolfe Research set a $125.00 price objective on ServiceNow in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on ServiceNow in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure dropped their price objective on ServiceNow from $172.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.85.

ServiceNow Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.73. The company has a market cap of $127.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The information technology services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServiceNow news, Director Paul Edward Chamberlain sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.23, for a total value of $130,845.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,243.90. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paul Fipps sold 1,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.51, for a total value of $103,238.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,212.72. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,071 shares of company stock worth $2,529,956. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOW. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ServiceNow by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC now owns 160 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 165 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in ServiceNow by 540.0% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 160 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueline Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ServiceNow during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.18% of the company’s stock.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a cloud computing company that builds enterprise software to manage digital workflows and automate business processes. Its offerings are designed to replace manual work and legacy systems with cloud-based, service-oriented applications that support IT operations, customer service, human resources, security response and other enterprise functions.

The company’s flagship product family is the Now Platform, a suite of subscription software and platform services that includes IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Business Management (ITBM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery, Security Operations and Asset Management.