
The trade is getting spicy
ServiceNow just got a fresh Buy call in a pair trade against Salesforce, and the pitch is pretty simple: the valuation gap has narrowed, but the growth gap still hasn’t. In investor-speak, that means NOW may not be the cheapest kid in class anymore — but it still looks like the one turning in the best homework.
Why the bulls are leaning in
The case for ServiceNow is basically built on momentum. Q2 2026 showed revenue and subscription growth of about 24%, both better than guidance, while AI-related bookings jumped 40% sequentially and agentic deployments increased 9x over nine months. That’s the kind of update that makes a growth stock crowd sit up straighter in their chairs.
The valuation plot twist
Here’s the part that matters for your portfolio: NOW’s valuation has compressed to around 6.5x EV/forward revenue, which closes some of the old gap with CRM. Translation: ServiceNow isn’t looking quite as expensive as it used to, even though its organic growth still looks better than the comparison trade.
Big picture
This isn’t a “buy everything with AI in the memo” moment. It’s more like a relative-value argument: if you want exposure to enterprise software with visible AI upside, NOW is being framed as the cleaner story — and the market is finally pricing it a little more reasonably.
