ServiceNow (NOW) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
ServiceNow (NOW) closed at $326.09 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.87% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 3.17%. At the same time, the Dow lost 3.77%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.28%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of software that automates companies' technology operations had lost 6.3% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 7.24%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.05%.
NOW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect NOW to post earnings of $0.98 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 46.27%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.03 billion, up 30.64% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.27 per share and revenue of $4.45 billion, which would represent changes of +28.61% and +28.68%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for NOW. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.48% lower. NOW is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, NOW is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 74.92. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.28, so we one might conclude that NOW is trading at a premium comparatively.
Meanwhile, NOW's PEG ratio is currently 2.59. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Computers - IT Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.99 at yesterday's closing price.
The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 74, which puts it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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