Better Bet Than ServiceNow Stock: Pay Less To Get More From PAY

NOW: ServiceNow logo
NOW
ServiceNow

PAY is NOW’s peer in Systems Software industry that has:

1) Lower valuation (P/EBIT) compared to NOW
2) But higher revenue and operating income growth

This disconnect between valuation and performance could mean that you are better off buying PAY stock vs. NOW

Key Metrics Compared

Relevant Articles
  1. The Next Big Rally in Ford Motor Stock Could Start Like This
  2. The Risk Factors to Watch Out For in NVIDIA Stock
  3. Intuitive Surgical Stock Now 16% Cheaper, Time To Buy
  4. AT&T Stock Pays Out $85 Bil – Investors Take Note
  5. Intel Stock Pays Out $92 Bil – Investors Take Note
  6. Comcast Stock Capital Return Hits $44 Bil

Metric NOW PAY
P/OpInc* 110.8x 81.8x
LTM OpInc Growth 49.2% 90.4%
3Y Avg OpInc Growth 97.8% 362.4%
LTM Revenue Growth 21.1% 47.8%
3Y Avg Revenue Growth 22.3% 32.3%

OpInc = Operating Income, P/EBIT = Price To Operating Income Ratio

ServiceNow (NOW) provides enterprise cloud solutions for workflow automation, AI, machine learning, robotic process automation, analytics, configuration management, collaboration, and service management worldwide.

This is just one approach to evaluate investments. Trefis High Quality Portfolio evaluates much more, and is designed to reduce stock-specific risk while giving upside exposure

Is The Mismatch In Stock Price Temporary

One way to check if ServiceNow stock is expensive now versus the other tickers would be to see how these metrics compared across companies exactly a year ago. Specifically, if there has been a marked reversal in the trend for ServiceNow in the last 12 months, then there is a chance that the current mismatch is likely to reverse. On the other hand, a persistent underperformance in revenue and operating income growth for ServiceNow would reinforce the conclusion that the stock is expensive compared to its peers, but may not revert soon

Key Metrics Compared 1 Yr Prior

Metric NOW PAY
P/OpInc* 112x 62.8x
LTM OpInc Growth 56.1% 147.9%
3Y Avg OpInc Growth 84.5% 242.4%
LTM Revenue Growth 21.0% 41.9%
3Y Avg Revenue Growth 22.4% 30.4%

OpInc = Operating Income

Additional Metrics To Consider

Metric NOW PAY
P/S 14.7x 4.4x
Market Cap (Current) $ 177.4 Bil $ 4.3 Bil
LTM Revenue $ 12.06 Bil $ 962.11 Mil
LTM Opinc $ 1.60 Bil $ 52.20 Mil
LTM Op Margin 13.3% 5.4%

OpInc = Operating Income

Alternate buying based on valuation, while attractive, needs to be evaluated carefully from multiple angles. Such multi-factor analysis is exactly how we construct Trefis portfolio strategies. If you want upside with a smoother ride than an individual stock, consider the High Quality portfolio, which has outperformed the S&P, and clocked >91% returns since inception.