ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) is back in the spotlight on December 19, 2025—this time for a mix of market mechanics and strategy that rarely collide so loudly in a single week: a fresh 5-for-1 stock split, unusually sharp volatility tied to blockbuster M&A rumors, and a renewed debate about how quickly enterprise software leaders can turn “agentic AI” into real, recurring dollars.
As of the latest available quote on Dec. 19, ServiceNow shares were trading around $155, after opening near $154 and moving in a roughly $153–$157 intraday range.
That price action comes as U.S. equities broadly climbed on Friday amid a tech rebound and “triple witching” options expiration—conditions that can amplify moves in high-profile software names like ServiceNow. [1]
Below is what’s driving ServiceNow stock right now, what forecasts look like after the split, and the key catalysts investors are tracking into early 2026.
ServiceNow stock price action: a new post-split reality after a volatile week
A big part of the confusion in ServiceNow stock headlines this week is simply math.
ServiceNow began trading on a split-adjusted basis on Dec. 18, 2025, after shareholders approved a 5-for-1 stock split earlier this month. [2]
Options contracts were also adjusted to reflect the split, with the OCC noting an ex-date of 12/18/2025 and detailing how listed ServiceNow options would be adjusted. [3]
In plain English: shareholders now own more shares, each priced lower, but the split itself does not change the company’s underlying value.
Still, splits can matter in practice. They often:
- Lower the absolute share price, potentially making the stock feel more “accessible.”
- Reshape liquidity and options activity.
- Create short-term data issues, where price targets, returns, and chart systems temporarily appear “broken” while they catch up.
That’s visible in some daily reporting around Thursday’s first full split-adjusted session. ServiceNow closed $153.38 on Dec. 18, down 1.98%, even as the broader market rose—along with unusually elevated volume versus its recent average. [4]
The core headline risk: ServiceNow and a potential $7 billion Armis acquisition
The single biggest driver of ServiceNow’s recent volatility remains speculation that the company is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity startup Armis in a deal that could be valued up to $7 billion, according to a Reuters report citing a Bloomberg News story and sources familiar with the matter. [5]
Key details from Reuters’ reporting include:
- The deal could be announced in coming days, but talks could also fall apart. [6]
- Armis had been eyeing an IPO and was reportedly valued at $6.1 billion in a fundraising round in November, with $435 million raised. [7]
- Reuters also described Armis as focused on securing connected devices in real time and serving a significant slice of the Fortune 100. [8]
Why investors reacted so strongly
Strategically, investors can make a plausible “why” case: ServiceNow sells workflow software into the enterprise, and cybersecurity—especially around devices, assets, and exposure management—touches the same operational backbone where ServiceNow already has relationships and data.
But markets don’t only trade on strategic logic. They trade on price, integration risk, and what a deal signals about organic growth.
A Reuters Breakingviews column published today framed the Armis rumor as a moment that exposed mounting investor anxiety about AI reshaping software economics—arguing that monetizing AI features quickly is becoming the central test for incumbents. [9]
Breakingviews also noted that ServiceNow had lost roughly $19 billion of market value after the Armis news hit. [10]
Cybersecurity is no longer a side quest for ServiceNow—Veza and “agentic AI security” are the tell
Even before Armis chatter spiked, ServiceNow was already signaling a sharper move into security.
The Veza acquisition
ServiceNow has agreed to acquire Veza, an identity security company, in a deal that aims to strengthen identity and access controls across applications, data, cloud environments, and even AI agents, according to Veza’s announcement. [11]
Independent analysis coverage has framed the Veza deal as a push to govern permissions at scale as agentic AI grows. [12]
And ITPro reported that ServiceNow plans to integrate Veza’s Access Graph into its AI Control Tower to improve visibility across identity relationships—including human, machine, and AI identities. [13]
Today’s read-through: ServiceNow is “shopping” for AI agent security and threat exposure management
A Dec. 19 Axios Pro item (preview text) captured the broader arc: ServiceNow is “shopping” in two fast-growing cybersecurity areas—securing agentic AI and threat exposure management—and its wishlist may hint at where dealmaking heats up in 2026. [14]
Put those pieces together and the story becomes clearer:
ServiceNow isn’t just adding security features. It’s trying to position itself as a control layer—where workflows, enterprise data, and AI agents meet governance.
That strategy can be compelling. It can also be expensive, and the market is clearly signaling it wants discipline on valuation and proof that security moves accelerate (not distract from) profitable growth.
Analyst forecasts for ServiceNow stock: targets reset after the 5-for-1 split
Today’s most “mechanical” news item also matters for SEO readers trying to make sense of Wall Street numbers: analyst price targets are being recalibrated because of the split.
New today: Stifel adjusts its target to $230 (split-driven)
On Dec. 19, Investing.com reported that Stifel lowered its ServiceNow price target to $230 from $1,150, explicitly to reflect the stock split. [15]
TheFly (via TipRanks) also described Stifel’s move as a split-driven adjustment to $230. [16]
Another recent adjustment: Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer similarly adjusted its price target to $230 from $1,150, maintaining an Outperform rating, according to TheFly coverage. [17]
What the consensus says now
Because split normalization is still flowing through data providers, it helps to look at sources that are already expressing targets in the new post-split price scale:
- MarketBeat: average 12‑month target $225.09, with a reported high target $263.00 and low $144.80. [18]
- Zacks: average target $226.89, with a range that includes lows around the mid‑$150s and highs in the low‑$260s. [19]
- TipRanks: average target around $227.08 recently, with rating distribution still tilted heavily toward Buys. [20]
Taken together, the “center of gravity” for mainstream Wall Street targets is clustering around $225–$230, which is why you’re seeing multiple firms “land” at ~$230 once split adjustments are applied.
A quick warning about stale targets
If you still see price targets around $1,000–$1,200 on some screens, they may simply be pre-split figures that haven’t been converted. With a 5-for-1 split, dividing an old $1,150 target by 5 yields $230, which is exactly what today’s adjustments reflect. [21]
ServiceNow fundamentals: strong growth, rising guidance, and an AI platform push
While M&A dominates this week’s tape action, ServiceNow’s underlying financial narrative is still rooted in durable subscription growth—and management has been explicit that AI is becoming a primary platform driver.
In its third-quarter 2025 financial results, ServiceNow reported:
- Subscription revenues of $3,299 million (up 21.5% year over year)
- Total revenues of $3,407 million (up 22% year over year)
- Current remaining performance obligations (cRPO) of $11.35 billion (up 21%)
- Remaining performance obligations (RPO) of $24.3 billion (up 24%) [22]
Guidance that matters for valuation
ServiceNow also provided a detailed financial outlook:
Q4 2025 guidance included:
- Subscription revenue: $3.420B–$3.430B
- cRPO growth: 23% (with a constant-currency view also provided) [23]
Full-year 2025 guidance included:
- Subscription revenue: $12.835B–$12.845B
- Subscription gross profit margin: 83.5%
- Operating margin: 31%
- Free cash flow margin: 34% [24]
Notably, the company also flagged that U.S. Federal agencies were navigating tighter budgets and that the government shutdown could affect near-term deal timing—factors it said were reflected in its Q4 guidance. [25]
Reuters’ coverage of the Q3 report likewise highlighted that ServiceNow raised its annual subscription revenue forecast on surging AI demand. [26]
The market backdrop on Dec. 19: tech rebound, AI sentiment, and triple-witching volatility
ServiceNow is often treated as a “high-quality enterprise AI” proxy—so it’s not immune to macro and sector flows.
On Dec. 19, U.S. stocks rose as tech strength regained momentum, with Reuters pointing to renewed optimism around AI-related shares and warning of higher volatility due to the quarterly “triple witching” expiration. [27]
That matters for NOW in two ways:
- Options activity and hedging can exaggerate stock moves around key strikes, particularly right after a split when the options chain resets.
- AI sentiment has been swinging more sharply than it did earlier in 2025, and ServiceNow is priced and traded like a company that must keep proving AI adoption converts to revenue and margin expansion.
Partner ecosystem news today: NTT DATA expands ServiceNow expertise
Not every ServiceNow headline is about acquisitions of software companies.
On Dec. 19, NTT DATA announced it is acquiring The Cloud People to expand its ServiceNow expertise and strengthen global reach. [28]
This isn’t a direct financial event for ServiceNow like a buyout would be, but it is a reminder that large systems integrators and services firms continue investing in ServiceNow delivery capacity—an important channel for big enterprise deployments and multi-year workflow programs.
Key risks and questions investors are pricing into NOW stock right now
ServiceNow’s story today is not “good vs. bad.” It’s a set of tradeoffs the market is actively repricing.
1) Does Armis happen—and if it does, at what cost to margins and focus?
The Reuters report makes clear talks could still fall apart. [29]
If a deal is announced, investors will quickly focus on:
- Price and financing mix
- Integration timeline
- Whether the acquisition supports durable platform expansion (or looks like “buying growth”)
2) Can ServiceNow monetize AI fast enough to calm the “AI disrupts SaaS” narrative?
Breakingviews’ Dec. 19 column put a spotlight on a growing market worry: AI may change how customers pay for software, and incumbents need to adapt pricing and packaging quickly. [30]
3) Post-split technical noise can distort sentiment
With the split so recent, some performance metrics and targets can look inconsistent across platforms, creating headline whiplash. The split itself is straightforward—record date Dec. 16, payable Dec. 17, split-adjusted trading beginning Dec. 18. [31]
But it may take time for every third-party database to fully normalize.
What to watch next for ServiceNow stock heading into 2026
If you’re tracking ServiceNow stock into year-end and beyond, these are the near-term checkpoints that matter most:
- Any confirmation/denial or formal announcement around an Armis deal (or alternative security M&A), following reports of advanced talks. [32]
- Follow-on analyst notes after the split—more firms may adjust targets numerically without changing the underlying thesis, as Stifel and Oppenheimer did. [33]
- Execution against Q4 and full-year subscription guidance, especially in the context of federal deal timing and broader enterprise spending patterns. [34]
- Evidence that security and identity moves (Veza, plus any additional security expansion) translate into cross-sell momentum rather than complexity and integration drag. [35]
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. investor.servicenow.com, 3. infomemo.theocc.com, 4. www.marketwatch.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.breakingviews.com, 10. www.breakingviews.com, 11. veza.com, 12. www.forbes.com, 13. www.itpro.com, 14. www.axios.com, 15. www.investing.com, 16. www.tipranks.com, 17. www.tipranks.com, 18. www.marketbeat.com, 19. www.zacks.com, 20. www.tipranks.com, 21. www.investing.com, 22. www.servicenow.com, 23. www.servicenow.com, 24. www.servicenow.com, 25. www.servicenow.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.nttdata.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. www.breakingviews.com, 31. www.sec.gov, 32. www.reuters.com, 33. www.investing.com, 34. www.servicenow.com, 35. veza.com
