NOW
Wall Street’s in a good mood
ServiceNow is getting a fresh round of love from analysts ahead of its Oct. 28 third-quarter earnings report, and the bullish case is pretty familiar: enterprise AI demand, federal spending, and cybersecurity are doing the heavy lifting.
The stock was already getting nudged higher, with shares up modestly to about $141.19 on Monday. That’s not exactly a moonshot, but when the Street starts crowding into the same bullish booth, investors usually pay attention.
The big bet: AI + government + security
RBC’s Matthew Hedberg kept an Outperform rating and yanked his price target up from $130 to $176, saying ServiceNow could beat expectations and feed more of that upside into 2026. In plain English: he thinks the company has more gas in the tank than the market was giving it credit for.
His checklist for the earnings call reads like the modern software investor bingo card:
- enterprise AI demand
- U.S. federal contract execution
- progress toward the $1.5 billion AI ACV target
- cybersecurity momentum
- cross-selling after acquisitions
BTIG’s Allan Verkhovski also sounded upbeat, arguing the AI opportunity is still underappreciated. He’s looking for current remaining performance obligations growth to keep humming and sees a shot at better-than-expected subscription revenue and guidance.
Why you should care
This isn’t just “analysts like the stock” fluff. When multiple firms get more constructive before earnings, they’re basically telling you the bar may be moving higher — and that matters because ServiceNow already trades like a company investors expect to keep compounding nicely.
If ServiceNow can show AI adoption is turning into actual dollars, not just boardroom buzzwords, the stock could keep its premium. If not? Well, Wall Street does enjoy a dramatic plot twist.
Big picture: ServiceNow doesn’t need a miracle here — just enough evidence that AI, federal demand, and security are turning into durable growth instead of a nice-sounding slide deck.