NEW YORK, May 17, 2026, 16:03 EDT
ServiceNow shares come into the week looking stronger than most other big software stocks after Friday’s close. The stock jumped 5.05% to $95.07 on May 15. On the same day, the S&P 500 slipped 1.24%, the Dow was down 1.07%, and the Nasdaq lost 1.54%. U.S. markets were closed Sunday. The NYSE’s regular session hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern on weekdays.
ServiceNow is still working to regain trust with investors after a rough spring in enterprise software names. Shares added around 4.3% for the week ended May 15, closing at $91.18 on May 8. But the stock remains well off its 52-week high of $211.48.
ServiceNow priced a $4 billion senior notes sale May 15, according to a new filing. The deal covers maturities from 2028 to 2056, with coupons between 4.25% and 6.30%. These are fixed-rate corporate bonds. Investors now have more to weigh ahead of Monday’s open.
ServiceNow plans to put about $3.94 billion of net proceeds toward paying down term-loan borrowings it took on for the Armis acquisition. That cybersecurity deal boosts ServiceNow’s addressable market but will put some pressure on margins in the near term. In its prospectus, the company said the new notes are senior unsecured obligations and not tied to any collateral.
Growth is still the key issue. ServiceNow posted first-quarter subscription revenue of $3.67 billion, up 22%. Current remaining performance obligations, or cRPO, rose 22.5% to $12.64 billion. That’s contract revenue the company expects to recognize within the next year. CFO Gina Mastantuono said the “most compelling chapter” of its growth story is “just beginning.” ServiceNow Investor Relations
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott pushed to shift focus from older software-seat models to AI-powered workflows. Speaking to 25,000 at the company’s Knowledge 2026 event in Las Vegas, McDermott said the “world of work is being remade,” and pitched ServiceNow’s platform as a tool for managing enterprise AI. ServiceNow
Salesforce is out with Agentforce, but it is not the only one in the game. Microsoft is tying Copilot tools into its own business software. Both are trying to win over corporate buyers looking for ways to automate work by using AI agents, which do more than just respond to prompts.
Investors have been following the shift around software-as-a-service after concerns that AI tools might hurt demand for regular subscription platforms. ServiceNow COO Amit Zavery told Reuters he’s “not worried about the narrative,” saying that more than half of new sales now come from usage-based pricing instead of per-user licenses. Reuters
The risks are clear enough. Reuters said last month that Middle East deal delays shaved 75 basis points off first-quarter subscription growth — a basis point is one-hundredth of a percent. Zavery said, “We don’t know when these conflicts will get sorted out.” Armis integration costs, heavier debt payments and weaker software sentiment could all leave Friday’s rally looking fragile. Reuters
ServiceNow is set for a busy week. Zavery is on deck at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference this Tuesday, May 19. Mastantuono presents at a Jefferies software, internet and AI conference May 27.
ServiceNow is getting a modest reset from the market, not a clean slate. The first thing to watch Monday is whether buyers stick around after the debt sale, Friday’s bounce, and ongoing questions on AI pricing, government contract timing, and margins.
