Bank of America and Bernstein are betting that artificial intelligence will strengthen, not shatter, ServiceNow's business, challenging a year-long narrative of disruption.
Bank of America and Bernstein are betting that artificial intelligence will strengthen, not shatter, ServiceNow's business, challenging a year-long narrative of disruption.

ServiceNow Inc. shares surged nearly 9 percent on Monday, bucking a broader tech-sector decline after Wall Street analysts argued the company will benefit from artificial intelligence rather than be replaced by it.
"We expect ServiceNow to benefit from, rather than be replaced by, new AI solutions," Bank of America analysts said, initiating coverage with a Buy rating and a $130 price target. The note directly counters the AI-related fears that have dragged the stock down by more than 30 percent year-to-date.
The renewed optimism follows ServiceNow’s Knowledge 2026 conference, where it unveiled a suite of new products including AI Control Tower, Otto, and the Autonomous Workforce platform. These tools are designed to help enterprises manage and govern their own AI deployments, effectively positioning ServiceNow as a central orchestration layer. The stock closed at $102.95, though it remains roughly 51 percent below its 52-week high.
This strategic shift reframes the company from a simple workflow automation provider, a category seen as vulnerable to disruption, into an essential management platform for enterprise AI. The argument is that as companies deploy more AI agents, the need for a system to manage and control them grows, placing ServiceNow at the center of the trend.
The bullish call from Bank of America was echoed by other firms. Bernstein, which had previously raised its price target to $236, characterized ServiceNow as a “full-stack AI operating layer.” This view is gaining traction, with 19 of 22 covering analysts now holding Buy ratings on the stock, according to data from Visible Alpha. The consensus price target of $142.19 suggests a potential 37 percent upside from Monday's close.
Adding weight to the narrative, ServiceNow announced new partnerships with major corporations including Experian, Accenture, FedEx Dataworks, and Boomi. These collaborations signal that the company’s agentic AI solutions are moving from testing phases into live enterprise environments, providing tangible evidence of adoption. While peers like Adobe and Salesforce also saw gains, ServiceNow’s rally was a standout in a down market for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
For investors, the rally marks a potential turning point for a stock that has been battered by fears of AI disruption. While ServiceNow shares trade well below their peak, the strong analyst backing and enterprise adoption provide a new bull case. The key question now is how quickly these new AI products can translate into measurable growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and net revenue retention (NRR), the core metrics for any SaaS business.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.