New York, January 6, 2026, 15:21 EST — Regular session
- Shares rise about 1.3% after Arete upgrades ServiceNow to “buy” with a $200 price target
- Piper Sandler trims its target while keeping an Overweight rating; investors weigh 2026 software spending
- Focus turns to U.S. jobs and inflation data and ServiceNow’s expected late-January earnings
ServiceNow shares rose on Tuesday after Arete upgraded the enterprise workflow software maker to “buy” from “neutral” and set a $200 price target, its estimate of where the stock could trade over the next year. ServiceNow stock was up 1.3% at $149.51 in afternoon trading.
The upgrade lands as investors reassess software valuations early in 2026, after a year when many security and infrastructure names lagged the broader market. Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens said he was “cautiously optimistic” on the group this year, but argued broad monetization of generative AI — systems that can produce text or code — has yet to show up at scale; the firm cut its ServiceNow price target to $200 from $230 while keeping an Overweight rating, meaning it expects outperformance versus peers.
ServiceNow’s deal activity has also stayed in focus. The company agreed in late December to buy cybersecurity firm Armis for $7.75 billion in cash, its largest acquisition, and said it expected the deal to close in the second half of 2026; ServiceNow shares fell about 3% on the announcement as investors worried about its acquisition streak.
On Monday, ServiceNow said Hossein Nowbar had joined as president and chief legal officer, or CLO, and that long-time CLO Russ Elmer would move to special counsel. Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said ServiceNow was “incredibly fortunate to have him,” citing Nowbar’s experience navigating regulatory and governance issues. ServiceNow Newsroom
The stock’s gains came alongside a broader lift in U.S. equities, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each up about 0.6% as tech and healthcare stocks rose and investors looked toward this week’s jobs data, a Reuters market report said. Salesforce climbed 2.7%, while Microsoft and Oracle each added about 0.8%.
A late-December SEC filing also showed ServiceNow amended CEO Bill McDermott’s employment agreement to keep him in the role through at least Dec. 31, 2030.
But the stock remains sensitive to any signs that enterprise customers are slowing IT spending, or that big acquisitions take longer to clear regulators and integrate. A fresh jump in bond yields would also pressure high-multiple software shares.
Next up, traders will watch the U.S. employment report for December on Jan. 9 and the December consumer price index on Jan. 13 for clues on interest-rate expectations. ServiceNow is expected to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 28, according to Investing.com.
