Analyst Ratings January 27, 2026

JPMorgan Keeps Overweight on ServiceNow After Partner Checks Show Mixed Momentum

Bank holds $215 December 2026 target as partner feedback points to moderated growth expectations and continued AI-driven expansion

By Maya Rios NOW
JPMorgan Keeps Overweight on ServiceNow After Partner Checks Show Mixed Momentum
NOW

JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating and a $215 price target for ServiceNow (NOW) after speaking with nine partners across the vendor's ecosystem. The bank's channel checks showed a mixed picture versus its prior quarterly survey - an improving outlook for the coming half-year but softer recent federal activity. Partners broadly reported ongoing mission-critical renewals, AI upgrades and cost-focused initiatives, while expectations for organic growth have softened from 20% to the high-teens for many.

Key Points

  • JPMorgan reaffirmed an Overweight rating on ServiceNow and kept a $215 price target for December 2026 after discussions with nine partners.
  • Partner checks showed a mixed outlook - improving sentiment for the coming half-year but soft recent federal government activity; many partners now expect high-teen organic growth rather than 20%.
  • AI initiatives are reportedly driving expansion and monetization of ServiceNow deployments rather than customer reductions, and the company expanded its Partner Program and entered a multi-year collaboration with OpenAI.

JPMorgan has reaffirmed an Overweight rating on ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) and maintained a $215 price target for December 2026 following qualitative checks with nine partners that participate in the company's ecosystem.

The bank's channel survey described a mixed environment compared with its prior quarterly outreach. While partner sentiment improved for the forthcoming half of the calendar year, recent sales into the Federal government were described as soft. Across the partner group, expectations for ServiceNow's future growth appear to have moderated somewhat - several partners shifted their outlook from roughly 20% organic growth to levels closer to the high teens.

JPMorgan reported that half of the partners involved in the checks said they had not paused or deferred ServiceNow projects in reaction to tariff or trade-war pressures, or to federal budget cutbacks. Partners identified mission-critical renewals, AI-related upgrades and projects aimed at reducing operating costs as continuing priorities that are still advancing.

Comparing recent sentiment to earlier responses, five partners rated the tone of business in the fourth quarter as better than before, up from four in the prior survey. That illustrates modest improvement in partner-reported activity, even as pockets of weakness persist.

Concerns that artificial intelligence might lead customers to reduce or abandon their ServiceNow footprints were largely dismissed by the partner group. According to the checks, partners reported no concrete evidence of customers exiting or shrinking ServiceNow implementations because of AI. Rather, the feedback suggested AI initiatives are more commonly prompting expansions of license footprints and new routes to monetize services within existing software deployments.

JPMorgan also emphasized that ServiceNow's cost-savings message is resonating with customers operating in a challenging spending environment. That focus on return on investment from software stacks is part of the rationale the bank cited in maintaining its Overweight stance and the $215 December 2026 price target.

Several analyst houses have adjusted their ServiceNow price targets in recent updates. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its target to $200 while keeping an Overweight rating, citing compression across the software sector. BMO Capital trimmed its target to $175, characterizing the stock as reflecting early software-related challenges, in part tied to recent merger and acquisition activity. Oppenheimer set a $175 target as well and flagged concerns about the company's acquisition strategy in late 2025.

Separately, ServiceNow has rolled out a significant enhancement to its global Partner Program with the aim of accelerating AI agent innovation. The revised program is slated to engage over 1,000 partners, among them AutomatePro and SailPoint, to broaden the set of solutions built on the ServiceNow AI Platform. The company also entered a multi-year collaboration with OpenAI to integrate advanced AI capabilities into its platform. Following that announcement, RBC Capital kept an Outperform rating and a $195 price objective.

Taken together, the partner feedback and recent analyst moves present a nuanced picture for ServiceNow: partner-reported activity and AI-led expansion provide constructive signals, while moderated growth expectations and mixed analyst target adjustments underscore ongoing execution and market-comparison risks.

Risks

  • Moderation in partner growth expectations from approximately 20% to the high teens could press valuation assumptions - impacting software and enterprise IT sectors.
  • Softness in recent Federal government activity represents a demand risk for providers of enterprise software to public sector customers - affecting both suppliers and channel partners.
  • Analyst target reductions and expressed concerns about acquisition strategy highlight execution and integration risk that could influence investor sentiment in the software sector.

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