ServiceNow falls 4% despite better-than-expected fourth-quarter results

ServiceNow falls 4% despite better-than-expected fourth-quarter results


ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott looks on during an “Invest America” roundtable discussion with US President Donald Trump in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on June 9, 2025.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

ServiceNow topped Wall Street’s fourth-quarter estimates after the bell on Wednesday, but shares fell more than 4%.

Here’s how the company performed versus LSEG estimates:

  • Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 88 cents expected
  • Revenue: $3.57 billion vs. $3.53 billion expected.

Revenues grew 20.5% from $2.96 billion in the year-ago period. Net income came in at $401 million, or 38 cents per share, up slightly from $384 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago.

“Hopefully these results continue to demonstrate the fact that the strength of our business really is unwavering, and we’re truly a one-of-one company in the software space,” finance chief Gina Mastantuono told CNBC.

The board also approved additional $5 billion for share buybacks.

ServiceNow is forecasting subscription revenues between $3.65 billion and $3.66 billion in the first quarter and $15.53 billion and $15.57 billion for the 2026 fiscal year.

The enterprise software company said its acquisition of artificial intelligence company Moveworks will contribute 100 basis points to full-year and first-quarter subscription revenue growth and first-quarter current remaining performance obligations growth, which accounts for backlog.

The company is in the middle of a major spending spree to boost its AI and security capabilities as it positions itself as an “AI control tower” for businesses.

That deal blitz has raised some concerns over whether the company is looking to acquire to reinvigorate growth, especially as fears mount that the software sector is losing ground to AI.

“Our acquisitions are 100% not a pivot away from organic growth,” Mastantuono said. “They represent an acceleration of it.”

She said the company is acquiring to gain key capabilities that unlock value.

Last month, ServiceNow said it would buy cybersecurity startup Armis for $7.75 billion to bolster its cybersecurity offering and identity security platform Veza, and closed its nearly $3 billion Moveworks deal.

ServiceNow said subscription revenues, which account for a large chunk of sales, rose 21% from a year ago to about $3.47 billion during the period and beat the StreetAccount expectation of $3.42 billion.

Subscription revenues for fiscal 2025 grew 21% to $12.88 billion.

The Santa Clara, California-based company’s fourth-quarter current remaining performance obligations jumped 25% from a year ago to $12.85 billion.

ServiceNow also announced an expanded partnership with Anthropic to better integrate its Claude models for customers. Earlier this month, ServiceNow made a similar, three-year deal, with competitor OpenAI.



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