NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 10:58 a.m. ET — Market closed [1]
ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) heads into the final trading stretch of the year with investors still digesting a major strategic pivot: a blockbuster cybersecurity acquisition, a growing list of deals across 2025, and new signals from Wall Street about how much of that M&A premium the market is willing to pay. [2]
With U.S. stock exchanges closed for the weekend and the NYSE core session set to reopen Monday morning, attention is shifting from day-to-day price moves to the key question that will likely shape the next leg for ServiceNow stock: can the company keep delivering “platform” growth while integrating bigger acquisitions—without diluting margins, slowing product velocity, or stretching the balance sheet? [3]
Where ServiceNow stock stands heading into Monday’s session
ServiceNow ended the most recent session (Friday, Dec. 26) at $153.89, up 0.85% on the day, with about 5.0 million shares traded, according to StockAnalysis trading data. [4]
The latest run of closes highlights how tightly the stock has been trading around the mid-$150s since the Armis announcement week began, even as headlines around deal size and strategy have stayed hot:
- Dec. 23 (Armis deal announced): close $154.36, volume ~12.1 million [5]
- Dec. 24: close $152.59 [6]
- Dec. 26: close $153.89 [7]
For investors, that “stabilization” matters: it suggests the market is not panicking—but it is also not rushing to re-rate the stock higher yet, as questions around the pace and scale of acquisitions linger. [8]
The last 48 hours: deal-spree scrutiny and new target tweaks
Two notable themes have dominated the most recent news cycle (roughly the last 24–48 hours):
1) A spotlight on ServiceNow’s 2025 deal pace.
A Bloomberg analysis published Friday pointed out that ServiceNow has spent at least $12 billion in 2025 on acquisitions or strategic investments, and framed the shift as a departure from the company’s prior approach to big mergers—raising investor debate about whether M&A is becoming a more central growth lever. [9]
2) Analysts adjusting targets as M&A risk enters the conversation.
Over the past several days, new notes and recaps have circulated around target changes. A widely shared item: TD Cowen cut its price target to $230 from $250 while maintaining a Buy-equivalent stance, a move framed around near-term caution as deal size increases. [10]
While investor takeaway shouldn’t hinge on any single target revision, the direction is meaningful: even bullish analysts are increasingly emphasizing integration and capital allocation alongside the AI narrative.
The big catalyst still driving the tape: the $7.75 billion Armis acquisition
ServiceNow’s planned purchase of Armis—priced at $7.75 billion in cash—is the company’s biggest announced deal to date and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary approvals and conditions. [11]
Why ServiceNow wants Armis
ServiceNow positions the deal as a way to extend security workflows beyond classic IT environments into operational technology (OT), medical devices, and other “cyber-physical” environments—areas where asset discovery and visibility are notoriously hard and where breach impact can be severe. [12]
In the company’s announcement, ServiceNow executive Amit Zavery emphasized a security-and-governance thesis for the “agentic AI” era, arguing that trust and governance across clouds, assets, AI systems, and devices becomes “non-negotiable” as enterprises scale AI. [13]
Armis CEO Yevgeny Dibrov framed the opportunity around expanding attack surfaces—“every connected asset” as a potential vulnerability—and the need for real-time intelligence to stay ahead of threats. [14]
And Larry Feinsmith, head of Global Tech Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships at JPMorgan Chase, described the combination as enabling a more dynamic view of connected enterprise assets, paired with an AI-powered blueprint for security and trusted AI deployment. [15]
What skeptics are watching
Even supportive investors often focus on three practical questions:
- Financing and balance sheet posture. ServiceNow said it expects to fund the acquisition through a mix of cash on hand and debt. [16]
- Whether the company keeps buying in security. In comments to Reuters, ServiceNow CFO Gina Mastantuono said the company’s security stack—post-Armis—would be “very well positioned,” adding it would not need to do more M&A in the security space. [17]
- Whether deal velocity masks or accelerates organic growth. Reuters quoted Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of industry advisory firm Valoir, saying the buying spree signals ServiceNow is trying to get ahead of competitors on orchestration and governance by acquiring IP, technical leadership, and customer bases. [18]
That tension—platform acceleration versus acquisition dependence—is a key narrative for NOW into 2026. [19]
Leadership continuity: CEO Bill McDermott’s contract extension through 2030
Another headline still reverberating into this weekend is leadership stability at the top.
In an SEC filing dated Dec. 23, ServiceNow disclosed an amendment to CEO William R. McDermott’s employment agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2026, under which he will remain in service through at least Dec. 31, 2030. The filing also notes he may serve (at the board’s discretion and with mutual understanding) as CEO, co-CEO, Executive Chairman, or Non-Executive Chairman during that period, and that CEO/co-CEO compensation will be commensurate with performance versus a peer group. [20]
For investors, this matters because the current strategy—AI platform expansion plus larger-scale M&A—puts a premium on execution continuity.
Stock split context: why “old prices” and some targets can look confusing
ServiceNow completed a 5-for-1 stock split, with trading on a split-adjusted basis expected to begin Dec. 18, 2025, per the company’s shareholder-approved split announcement. [21]
That split has two real-world consequences for investors reading headlines:
- Historic prices and older analyst targets may be stated on a pre-split basis. A pre-split $1,150 target, for example, becomes $230 post-split—so some “cuts” are purely mechanical adjustments, not fundamental downgrades. (This has been a common pattern in multiple analyst note recaps following the split.) [22]
- Insider sale filings can show pre-split prices. One example: in a Form 4 filing, ServiceNow President and CFO Gina Mastantuono reported a sale of 415 shares at $850 on Dec. 5, 2025, and the filing indicates the transaction was executed pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted in August 2025. [23]
None of this automatically signals anything bearish—but it does mean investors should normalize figures to split-adjusted terms before drawing conclusions from a single data point.
Forecasts and analyst outlook: where Wall Street sees NOW over the next 12 months
Even with the M&A debate, sell-side consensus remains broadly constructive.
- TipRanks data shows an average 12‑month price target of $228.25, with a high forecast of $263 and a low forecast of $155, based on analysts issuing targets in the recent period covered by that dataset. [24]
- MarketBeat’s consensus compilation lists an average target near $223.53, with a high of $263.00 and low near $144.80, reflecting its tracked analyst set. [25]
Meanwhile, ServiceNow’s own most recent guidance (from its Q3 2025 earnings release) projected full‑year 2025 subscription revenues of $12.835–$12.845 billion (about 20.5% year-over-year growth) and included non-GAAP profitability metrics such as 31% operating margin and 34% free cash flow margin in its outlook framework. [26]
The “bull case” embedded in many targets still leans on the durability of workflow subscription growth and expanding use cases for AI-enabled enterprise automation. The “bear case” generally centers on valuation discipline, the risk that larger acquisitions create integration drag, and the possibility that AI changes seat-based software economics faster than pricing models adapt.
What investors should know before the next session opens
Because U.S. exchanges are closed today and reopen Monday (NYSE core session 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET), investors tracking ServiceNow stock into the next session are typically watching a short checklist. [27]
Key items to watch Monday for NOW
- Any incremental detail on Armis integration and financing. ServiceNow has laid out the strategic rationale and expects the deal to close in H2 2026; the market will watch for further disclosures around funding mix (cash vs. debt) and integration milestones. [28]
- Whether analyst commentary shifts from “target normalization” to “fundamental re-rating.” Post-split target resets are fading; what matters next is whether analysts materially change earnings/revenue assumptions or risk premiums due to deal scale. [29]
- The broader “deal-spree” narrative. Bloomberg’s framing of at least $12 billion in 2025 acquisitions/investments has elevated scrutiny on how much growth is organic versus acquired—and whether ServiceNow is entering a new strategic era. [30]
- Security spending tailwinds (and proof points). ServiceNow’s Armis announcement cited Gartner research projecting worldwide end-user spending on information security to rise in 2026, underscoring the macro tailwind the company is leaning into. Investors will look for customer traction that validates this bet. [31]
- Insider transaction headlines—read the footnotes. Insider sales can reappear in weekend coverage; Form 4 footnotes (like 10b5‑1 plan disclosures) often add essential context. [32]
Bottom line
ServiceNow enters Monday’s session with its stock holding around the mid‑$150s post-split, but with its narrative in flux: the company is trying to turn a string of AI- and security-adjacent acquisitions—culminating in the $7.75 billion Armis deal—into a larger, more defensible platform story. [33]
The next decisive move in NOW may depend less on a single headline and more on the market’s confidence that ServiceNow can integrate larger deals while sustaining the growth and margin profile reflected in its most recent guidance—especially as investors weigh “platform leadership” against “deal dependency” going into 2026. [34]
References
1. www.nyse.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.nyse.com, 4. stockanalysis.com, 5. stockanalysis.com, 6. stockanalysis.com, 7. stockanalysis.com, 8. www.bloomberg.com, 9. www.bloomberg.com, 10. www.marketbeat.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. newsroom.servicenow.com, 13. newsroom.servicenow.com, 14. newsroom.servicenow.com, 15. newsroom.servicenow.com, 16. newsroom.servicenow.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.bloomberg.com, 20. www.sec.gov, 21. newsroom.servicenow.com, 22. newsroom.servicenow.com, 23. www.sec.gov, 24. www.tipranks.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. newsroom.servicenow.com, 27. www.nyse.com, 28. newsroom.servicenow.com, 29. www.marketbeat.com, 30. www.bloomberg.com, 31. newsroom.servicenow.com, 32. www.sec.gov, 33. stockanalysis.com, 34. newsroom.servicenow.com
