Is ServiceNow Stock Underperforming the Dow?

ServiceNow Inc building in Silicon Valley-by Sundry Photography via iStock

Neharika Jain

Thu, February 26, 2026 at 10:30 PM GMT+9 2 min read

In this article:

•                                       StockStory Top Pick 
  

  NOW

  +3.53%

Valued at a market cap of $107.2 billion, ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) is a cloud computing company based in Santa Clara, California. It provides a digital workflow platform designed to help enterprises automate and manage business processes across IT, customer service, human resources, security, and operations.

Companies valued at $10 billion or more are typically classified as “large-cap stocks,” and NOW fits the label perfectly, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the software - application industry. The company has pivoted into an “AI-first” powerhouse by launching autonomous AI Agents and the AI Control Tower to govern complex model deployments across the enterprise. This evolution was further bolstered by the acquisition of Pyramid Analytics, which integrates advanced business intelligence directly into its digital workflow ecosystem to drive “agentic” automation.

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This software giant has dipped 50.7% from its 52-week high of $211.48, reached on Jul. 3, 2025. Shares of NOW have declined 36.9% over the past three months, notably lagging behind the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s ($DOWI) 5% rise during the same time frame.

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Moreover, on a YTD basis, shares of NOW are down 32%, compared to DOWI’s 3% rise. In the longer term, NOW has decreased by 43.5% over the past 52 weeks, significantly underperforming DOWI’s 13.4% uptick over the same period.

To confirm its bearish trend, NOW has been trading below its 200-day moving average since late July and below its 50-day moving average since late October.

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Amid the ongoing selloff in IT stocks fueled by market fears around the increasing capabilities of AI, insiders at ServiceNow are signaling confidence through decisive action. In mid-February, CEO Bill McDermott made a notable $3 million open-market purchase of company shares. At the same time, other senior executives, including the CFO and Chief People Officer, discontinued their pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans. While broader market sentiment reflects concerns about AI disrupting traditional software models, ServiceNow’s leadership appears to be demonstrating strong conviction that the company is well-positioned to lead in the AI-driven transformation rather than be displaced by it.

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NOW has also trailed behind its rival, Salesforce, Inc. (CRM), which dropped 37.3% over the past 52 weeks and 27.6% on a YTD basis.

Despite NOW’s recent underperformance, analysts remain highly optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy” from the 44 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $194.46 suggests an 86.6% premium to its current price levels.

_ On the date of publication, Neharika Jain did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com _

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