By Christine Ji
Application-software stocks are getting more love from Wall Street
ServiceNow shares rallied after Bank of America reinstated coverage with a buy rating and $130 price target.
Just a few weeks ago, ServiceNow dragged down the entire software sector after its disappointing earnings report raised concerns about the health of customer spending.
But now ServiceNow's (NOW) stock is on track for its best day in over a year, potentially hinting at a software revival.
ServiceNow shares rose as much as 8% earlier Monday and were up 5% as of midday trading, heading for their third consecutive session of gains. Shares of the enterprise workflow software provider are the second-best performer in the S&amp;P 500 index SPX. The stock is on track for its best one-day percentage increase since April 2025, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Powering today's rally is a renewed sense of optimism from Wall Street, with Bank of America analyst Tal Liani reinstating coverage of the stock on Monday with a buy rating and a $130 price target. Liani wrote that the company serves a &#34;mission-critical&#34; role in governing and auditing artificial-intelligence agents in organizations.
Concerns about AI solutions replacing traditional enterprise software have caused ServiceNow shares to shed 34% since the beginning of the year, but Liani said the stock is attractively priced at current levels given the company's growth and free-cash-flow generation.
&#34;While AI is disrupting the software landscape, we think [ServiceNow] stands to benefit from, rather than be replaced by, new AI solutions,&#34; Liani said. Because the company is already deeply embedded inside corporate workflows, ServiceNow is uniquely positioned to provide compliance guardrails and deterministic business rules for AI agents, Liani said.
The company has been successfully pivoting from a seat-based to a hybrid pricing model that accounts for AI consumption. Liani noted that executives expect an average price bump of 20% to 30% as clients move into higher-tier bundles. Liani also highlighted that ServiceNow's recent acquisitions of cybersecurity companies Armis and Veza expand the company's addressable market and strengthen its AI Control Tower offering.
Read: Why ServiceNow's stock is sliding in the wake of earnings
The broader software sector is seeing other green shoots as well. Shares of the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV are up over 1% in the past week and nearly 7% in the past month.
Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Favuzza wrote in a Monday morning note that infrastructure software and cybersecurity stocks have been particular outperformers recently. Investors have bet on these companies to be more AI-resistant, as their business models are tied to the boom in demand for AI computing.
However, application-software stocks are also participating in the rally. Last week, design-software company Figma (FIG) wowed investors with a strong earnings report that showed increasing AI monetization through its usage-based credit system. The company shared that 75% of heavy enterprise users opted to buy additional credits after hitting their monthly caps.
Shares of Figma, which have been heavily battered since the company's public listing last year, have risen 14% since last Thursday.
See more: Figma has a fix for its ailing stock - a new way to make money off its AI products
-Christine Ji
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-18-26 1305ET

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ServiceNow's stock is on track for its best day in over a year, rising 5% after Bank of America reinstated coverage with a buy rating and a $130 price target. This comes after a period of decline due to concerns over AI's impact on traditional software. Analysts believe ServiceNow is well-positioned to benefit from AI advancements, with a successful shift to a hybrid pricing model and recent acquisitions enhancing its market reach. The broader software sector is also showing signs of recovery.

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ServiceNow's stock heads for best day in a year - flashing a green light for the software sector