ServiceNow (NOW) stock rose around 2.6% in pre-market trading on Monday, hitting $136, even as the S&P 500 slid 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 1.9%. That kind of divergence from the broader market tends to get attention.
The move came against a backdrop of sector rotation. Investors pulled back from chipmakers and moved toward enterprise software names seen as less exposed to potential slowdowns in AI development, following fresh safety concerns raised by top industry executives.
NOW opened at $132.49 on Friday. The stock has a 52-week low of $81.24 and a 52-week high of $194.73, putting Monday’s move somewhere in the middle of its range.
Multiple Wall Street firms lifted their price targets on NOW in the days leading up to Monday’s session. Needham raised its target to $155 from $115, while BTIG moved its target up to $170 from $150.
Other recent revisions include Wells Fargo reiterating an “overweight” rating with a $175 target, up from $160. Truist Financial raised its target to $130 from $120 and kept a “buy” rating. Robert W. Baird moved its target to $125 from $118 with an “outperform” rating.
Of the 55 analysts covering the stock, roughly 83% carry a buy-equivalent rating. The average 12-month price target sits at approximately $148.81, well above current trading levels. The consensus rating from MarketBeat is “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $145.71.
One outlier: CLSA started coverage with an “underperform” rating and a $72 price target.
ServiceNow reported Q2 revenue of $3.99 billion, up 24% year over year, beating analyst expectations of $3.93 billion. EPS came in at $0.90, ahead of the $0.86 consensus estimate.
The company’s net margin was 11.34% and return on equity was 16.45%. The stock carries a P/E ratio of 82.81 and a PEG ratio of 2.41.
Analysts expect full-year EPS of $2.22 for the current fiscal year.
Institutional ownership stands at 87.18%. NewEdge Advisors increased its stake by 10.8% in Q2, adding 14,641 units to hold 150,324 units worth approximately $14.9 million. Norges Bank initiated a new position in Q4 worth $2.02 billion.
On the insider side, executives have been selling. Jacqueline P. Canney sold 7,847 units at an average price of $138.00 on August 28th. Paul Fipps sold 2,034 units at $147.87 on August 31st. Total insider sales over the past 90 days came to 14,081 units worth roughly $1.94 million.
ServiceNow also announced a partnership with Fortune for an October AI summit focused on commercializing AI. Agentic AI production deployments have increased ninefold over nine months, according to analyst notes.
The 50-day moving average sits at $120.27 and the 200-day moving average is at $108.91.
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