ServiceNow’s 2025: A Slow Descent

My aunt Mildred, who insists on managing her portfolio from a diner booth with a stack of paper printouts, asked me about ServiceNow. “Sounds like something you’d order at a spa,” she said, peering over her reading glasses. I tried to explain it was enterprise software, a platform for streamlining workflows, but she was already halfway through a slice of pecan pie. That, I suspect, is a fairly accurate metaphor for how 2025 treated the stock. A promising concept, ultimately consumed by something sweeter, and far more immediate.

ServiceNow, for those not fielding questions from pie-enthusiasts, didn’t exactly set the market on fire. A nearly 28% decline isn’t the sort of thing you brag about at cocktail parties, unless the party is exclusively for people who enjoy watching money evaporate. They threw everything at it, really. A stock split, which felt a bit like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, and a hefty acquisition. It was like watching someone desperately try to glue a chipped teacup back together with hundred-dollar bills.

The year started with a flurry of upgrades to their AI platform. Yokohama, then Zurich. It’s always a relief when a company names things after cities. It suggests a certain global ambition, even if the actual impact is…incremental. They were moving from “assistive” AI to “agentic” AI, which sounds suspiciously like giving the computers more responsibility, and less of the blame when things go wrong. The first quarter results were encouraging, a 19% bump in revenue, a net income that made the accountants happy. For a moment, it seemed like maybe, just maybe, things were turning around.

Then came the stock split. 5-for-1. The idea, of course, is to make the shares more affordable. It’s the financial equivalent of slicing a pizza into smaller pieces and pretending you’ve suddenly got more. It gave a brief pop, a momentary surge of optimism. My broker, a man who always smells faintly of regret, sent me a celebratory email. It felt premature.

And then, the acquisition of Armis, a cybersecurity firm, for nearly $8 billion. A staggering sum. It reminded me of my cousin, Harold, buying a vintage pinball machine he didn’t have room for. It seemed like a statement, a way of saying, “I have resources.” But also, a clear sign of poor planning. The market, predictably, wasn’t impressed. The price tag felt… excessive. Like they’d mistaken a moderately useful tool for the Holy Grail.

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure the sell-off was justified. The fundamentals are still solid. They’re growing, innovating, and generally doing all the things companies are supposed to do. But there’s something about the relentless pursuit of “growth” that feels… exhausting. It’s like they’re trying to outrun a shadow. The Armis acquisition, while expensive, could bolster their security offerings, a crucial component in today’s threat landscape. But it’s a long game. And the market, as always, prefers immediate gratification.

My aunt Mildred, having finished her pie, asked me a follow-up question. “So, should I buy it?” I hesitated. I’m not a financial advisor. I’m just a man trying to make sense of a world that increasingly feels like a poorly written algorithm. “Maybe,” I said finally. “Or maybe just have another slice of pie.” It felt like the more sensible option.

2026-01-21 08:42

Read More