ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) shares are climbing higher on Thursday. Multiple analysts have maintained their ratings despite lowering price targets. Here’s what you should know.
- ServiceNow shares are trending higher. Why is NOW stock trading higher?
The Nasdaq is little changed while the S&P 500 has shed 0.04%, and Technology is up 0.47%, setting up a “selective risk-on” backdrop for software names.
The Broader Market Setup
Thursday’s move fits a market where leadership is narrow: seven sectors are advancing, four are declining, and the advance/decline ratio is 1.8, pointing to modestly positive breadth. With Energy up 1.51% and Tech in the middle of the pack, traders appear to be rotating within winners rather than chasing the whole market higher.
ServiceNow is trying to stabilize into earnings even as the software tape has punished “good numbers,” with the company’s 21% fourth-quarter revenue growth previously followed by a 10% post-print drop and a slide of more than 60% from its January 2025 peak.
ServiceNow is also trading in a tape where average software price-to-sales multiples have compressed from about 6.5x to 3.5x next-12-month revenue, a reset that can keep rallies fragile even when the stock is green.
ServiceNow Technical Analysis
ServiceNow is still sitting in the lower half of its 52-week range ($81.24 to $211.48), which keeps the longer-term trend pressure front and center. The stock is trading 5.1% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 25.2% below its 100-day SMA, a setup that leans bearish for both short-term and intermediate trend control.
The moving average structure also stays heavy, with the 20-day SMA below the 50-day SMA and a death cross in August 2025 (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA), which is consistent with rallies getting sold into. The moving average convergence divergence (MACD), a trend/momentum measure, is below its signal line with a negative histogram, which points to downside momentum still having the edge after the bearish cross in May 2025.
Over the past 12 months, the stock is down 39.85%, which matches the idea that the bigger trend has been a grind lower despite periodic bounces. With the recent swing low in April and resistance marked near $111.00, the chart is still treating rebounds as “prove it” moves until price can reclaim overhead supply.
- Key Resistance: $111.00 — an area where prior rallies have stalled and sellers have shown up.
- Key Support: $81.00 — near the 52-week low zone where demand last defended the trend.
Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $169.75. Recent analyst moves include:
- Deutsche Bank: Buy (Lowers Target to $135.00) (April 16)
- TD Cowen: Buy (Lowers Target to $140.00) (April 16)
- Baird: Outperform (Lowers Target to $125.00) (April 16)
Benzinga Edge Rankings: The Benzinga Edge scorecard for ServiceNow highlights its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market.
- Momentum: Bearish (Score: 2.82) — The trend profile is weak, lining up with price staying under key moving averages.
- Quality: Neutral (Score: 37.19) — Not a clear balance-sheet/earnings-quality standout versus the broader market.
- Value: Weak (Score: 23.35) — The stock screens expensive on traditional metrics, even after the drawdown.
- Growth: Strong (Score: 91.4) — The market still views the business as a high-growth software platform.
The Verdict: ServiceNow’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a growth-heavy profile with weak momentum and a premium-leaning valuation. That mix often leaves the stock sensitive to earnings execution, especially with resistance overhead and the longer-term trend still pointed down.
ServiceNow Shares Are Moving Higher
NOW Price Action: ServiceNow shares were up 2.30% at $96.36 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.
Image: JarTee/Shutterstock
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