Table of Contents

a. ServiceNow 101

Throughout this piece, I will reference various products in the ServiceNow product suite. If you’re not familiar with something, definitions can be found in my ServiceNow 101 article here.

b. Key Points

  • Middle East conflict holding revenue back a bit.

  • Margins will be pressured by M&A in the near-term.

  • Mixed guidance.

c. Demand

  • Beat revenue estimates by 0.8%.

    • Inorganic contributions from Veza (closed Mid-March) and Pyramid M&A were "tiny" and revenue was still ahead of expectations excluding them.

  • Beat subscription revenue estimates by 0.5% & beat guidance by 0.4%.

    • 19% constant currency (CC) subscription revenue growth was modestly ahead of 18.75% CC growth guidance.

    • Subscription revenue growth was held back by ~150 bps via a shift from self-hosted to hosted revenue.

  • Slightly beat current remaining performance obligation (cRPO) estimates.

    • 21% Y/Y CC cRPO growth beat 20% guidance and beat 20.6% growth estimates.

    • RPO rose by 25% Y/Y.

  • Interestingly, the U.S. public sector outperformed internal expectations despite weak channel checks throughout the quarter.

  • Subscription revenue growth was held back by delayed on-premise deal closings in the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict. All business in that region is on-premise (so lumpy recognition). Without this, subscription revenue would have been $200M higher. For evidence that this is truly timing based, a few of the deals that slipped from Q1 have already closed.

d. Profits & Margins

  • Missed 82.5% subscription GPM estimates by 90 basis points (bps; 1 basis point = 0.01%).

  • Beat EBIT estimates by 1.6% & beat EBIT margin guidance by 30 bps.

  • Missed FCF estimates by 5%.

  • Met $0.98 EPS estimates.

  • Missed $0.53 GAAP EPS estimates by $0.08.

e. Balance Sheet

  • Diluted share count fell by 0.7% Y/Y.

  • $5.5B in cash & equivalents.

  • $2.72B in long-term marketable securities. $1.74B in strategic investments.

  • $1.5B debt.

f. Guidance & Valuation

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