What Is Behind The Move In ServiceNow Stock?

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Shares of ServiceNow (NOW) fell 26.9% on Thursday, October 29, 2026, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%. The decline followed the company’s October 28 earnings report for the third quarter of 2026. In that quarter, subscription revenue grew 20.5% from a year earlier, excluding currency effects. So why did the shares fall so hard?

ServiceNow Missed On Earnings And Forecast Slower Backlog Growth

ServiceNow reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.00 for the quarter, falling short of the $1.02 estimate. Revenue reached $4.107 billion, just above the expected $4.095 billion. News reports linked the slide in the stock to that earnings miss, which came alongside a raised AI outlook: management lifted its year-end target for AI contracts to at least $1.7 billion. Other reports tied the fall at the open to the company’s forecast for slower growth in contracted revenue.

The company’s guidance pointed two ways. Management expects subscription revenue to grow 21.5% in the fourth quarter, excluding currency effects. However, it expects growth in its current backlog to slow to 18.5%, down from 21% in the third quarter. Management called this contracted revenue a good, if not perfect, guide to future revenue. The company added that strong early renewals had pulled deals out of the fourth quarter and into the third.

Did Other Software Stocks Fall With ServiceNow?

They did, but by far less. All five companies on ServiceNow’s Trefis peer list fell that session. Declines ranged from 2.8% for Snowflake to 7.3% for Atlassian, and ServiceNow’s drop was more than three times the largest of them. XLK, the fund that tracks ServiceNow’s Information Technology sector, lost 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.4%.

News reports said software stocks fell in premarket trading on October 29 after results from Fortinet and ServiceNow, deepening worries about AI disruption in the sector. ServiceNow moved with its group, but most of its fall was its own.

Where Does ServiceNow Stock Stand Now?

ServiceNow had not fallen this much in a single session at any point in the prior 365 days. Its largest one-day fall in that span had been 17.7% on April 23, 2026. Since October 28, 2025, the stock has lost 41.5%, while the S&P 500 returned 13.3%.

The shares closed at $109.67, well below their 12-month closing high of $186.94 on October 30, 2025. They remain above the closing low of $83.00 set on April 10, 2026. Over the six months since April 30, the stock is still up 24.2%. Since September 30, it has lost 18.2%.

ServiceNow is expected to report its fourth-quarter results in January 2027. Growth in its current backlog is the measure to watch in that report.

What Would Another Fall In ServiceNow Do To Your Plan?

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