ServiceNow's unexpected expense surge makes its rich valuation more vulnerable in a struggling software sector. Revenue rose 21%, but spending drove an EPS miss and one quarter of guided cRPO deceleration; wider market conditions could hurt near term. The 20% selloff looks excessive, and few software companies should benefit as much from AI. Management could deliver over 3-5 years, though the stock is only close to a buy again now; below $100 looks good for the long term. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com 

ServiceNow's AI contract growth and improving free cash flow margin make the 18% selloff excessive and its shares a massive discount among leading enterprise AI companies. AI net-new ACV rose 65%; its 2026 AI ACV target rose to $1.7B, up 70% from the start of the year. Adjusted operating margin slipped to 32.5% from 33.5%, but free cash flow margin rose to 20% from 17.5%. Acquisition costs, stock compensation and severance largely drove the GAAP decline. x.com  x.com  x.com 

ServiceNow's seat business is being cannibalized faster than AI deals can replace it. Next-quarter cRPO growth is guided to 18.5%, down from 20.5%, while subscription growth was 24.5% two quarters ago; agentic usage on its platform is up 13x. Management points to AI deal value heading to $1.7bn, against a roughly $16bn subscription business. The slowdown leaves more pain ahead. Underweight, $90 target. x.com  x.com 

ServiceNow is a rare opportunity because the narrative that AI will kill it is far from true. The stock is down about 31% over the past year, yet NVIDIA's Jensen Huang says ServiceNow can grow 100-fold, CEO Bill McDermott bought about $3 million of shares near $104.60, and Donald Trump disclosed a $1M-5M purchase in February. x.com 

ServiceNow's AI business undercuts fears that AI will put it out of business. Its AI revenues are expected to surpass $1.5 billion by the end of 2026 and reach $9.6 billion in 2030. The stock rose 9% back to $137 a share. x.com  x.com 

ServiceNow's slowing contracted-revenue growth suggests agentic AI and growing open-source alternatives may be reducing the need for its products. Q3 operating margin fell to 9.4% from 16.8% a year earlier, net income dropped, and cRPO growth slowed from 25% to 20.5%; Q4 guidance implies 18.5%. x.com 

ServiceNow keeps selling more to existing customers over time, one of the biggest reasons to be bullish long term. Its 2011 customer cohort's annual contract value grew from an indexed $100 to $3,730 by Q3 2026, or 37.3x, even including customer losses. x.com 

ServiceNow is priced as if AI agents will replace it, yet its numbers show AI becoming its biggest growth driver. Q2 revenue grew 24% to $3.9B, faster than last quarter, earnings beat by almost 5% and full-year guidance rose for the second time. Its AI products crossed $1B in annual contract value, renewals were 98%, and $1M+ deals rose 40% to 123. AI infrastructure costs have squeezed margins slightly, and AI shrinking software budgets over 5-10 years is a fair bear risk. x.com 

ServiceNow's guidance growth is set to fall by another fifth next quarter, a poor trajectory rather than a buying opportunity after earnings. x.com 

ServiceNow's third-quarter subscription revenue, cRPO and operating-margin beats make its double-digit selloff look overdone. After a 77% rise from April lows, it needed a big beat and raise; lower fourth-quarter cRPO guidance and back-loaded implications for $30-$32 billion in subscription growth by 2030 leave the stock in show-me mode. x.com