ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) stock fell more than 3% on Thursday, underperforming a broader market rally as investors took profits after a recent rebound and reassessed the stock’s longer-term technical outlook. The Nasdaq gained 2.48%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.22%.
Stock Lags Despite Strong Market
Thursday’s decline appeared driven by stock-specific selling rather than broader market weakness. The technology sector led gains across major sectors, yet ServiceNow moved sharply lower.
Such divergence often occurs when traders sell into resistance levels or rotate away from premium-valued software stocks following a recovery rally.
Market breadth remained strong, with nine of 11 sectors trading higher and an advance-decline ratio of 4.5. Against that backdrop, ServiceNow’s weakness stood out as a notable underperformance.
Technical Picture Remains Mixed
ServiceNow shares traded at $102.71, leaving the stock about 4% below its 20-day simple moving average of $107.93 and roughly 2.4% below its 100-day average of $106.14. Those levels suggest the stock is still struggling to regain intermediate-term momentum.
However, the shares remain about 4.2% above the 50-day moving average of $99.44, indicating the latest pullback follows a recent recovery attempt rather than a fresh breakdown.
The relative strength index stood at 49.08, a neutral reading that suggests momentum is neither overbought nor oversold.
The longer-term trend remains a concern for bulls. The 50-day moving average remains below the 200-day moving average, a bearish “death cross” that formed in August 2025. That setup suggests rallies may continue to face selling pressure until the broader trend improves.
Key resistance sits near $111, while support is around $85.50, just above the stock’s 52-week low area of $81.24.
IBM, ServiceNow Expand AI Partnership
Separately, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and ServiceNow expanded their partnership on Thursday to help enterprises modernize legacy systems, improve data readiness, and deploy AI at scale.
The collaboration combines IBM’s AI, data, and automation tools with the ServiceNow AI Platform, focusing on application modernization, enterprise data governance, and autonomous IT operations.
The companies said the joint solutions will help customers unlock enterprise data, automate workflows, and support agentic AI adoption. The offerings are expected to be available in the second half of 2026.
Earnings And Analyst Outlook
The company’s next earnings report is expected on July 22, 2026.
Analysts expect earnings of 76 cents per share, compared with 82 cents a year earlier. Revenue is projected to rise to $3.93 billion from $3.21 billion in the prior-year period.
ServiceNow trades at about 63.1 times earnings, reflecting a premium valuation relative to many software peers.
Wall Street maintains a Buy consensus rating on the stock, with an average price forecast of $139 based on 50 analyst ratings. Recent analyst actions include:
- Bank of America Securities: Buy, $130 price forecast (May 18)
- Bernstein Research: Market Perform, raised price forecast to $236 (May 6)
- Macquarie Group: Neutral, maintained $109 price forecast (May 5)
NOW Stock Price Activity: ServiceNow shares were down 3.16% at $102.71 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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