ServiceNow (NOW) Faces Questions Over Acquisitions and Capital Allocation

ServiceNow (NOW) Faces Questions Over Acquisitions and Capital Allocation

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• NOW +0.37%

Sustainable Growth Advisers (SGA), an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for its "Global Growth Strategy." The letter can be downloaded here. The SGA Global Growth Portfolio returned 7.4% gross and 7.2% net, compared with 14.9% for the MSCI ACWI and 19.8% for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index. Momentum leadership and enthusiasm around AI infrastructure drove markets, with semiconductor, memory, and hardware stocks accounting for much of the gain. Although the portfolio owned AI beneficiaries, broader holdings lagged despite fundamentals, as median revenue and EPS growth reached 12% and 14% and more than 60% of the holdings beat expectations. SGA believes valuation compression reflects sentiment rather than weaker business quality, leaving the portfolio near its widest discount to the market since inception. The firm continues to favor durable compounders and expects 16% revenue growth and 20% earnings growth over three years. Also, please check the Fund's top five holdings to see its best picks for 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, SGA Global Growth Strategy highlighted ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW). ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is a cloud-based software company that provides a platform for automating and managing digital workflows. On August 21, 2026, ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) closed at $128.48 per share. The one-month return of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was 21.64%, and its shares lost 27.04% over the past 52 weeks. ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion.

SGA Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"As part of our ongoing dialogue with ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW), we met with President and Chief Legal Officer Hossein Nowbar and members of the company's legal, compensation and, human resources teams. A significant portion of the discussion focused on the company's recent acquisition activity and the importance of maintaining transparency with shareholders regarding strategic decision-making. Management disagreed with our characterization that its acquisition strategy had become more aggressive, describing the recent transactions as an unusual convergence of several deals rather than a fundamental change in approach. We emphasized that, regardless of management's intent, the lack of timely communication surrounding these transactions contributed to investor uncertainty and undermined shareholder confidence. We encouraged the company to provide clearer and more proactive disclosure around significant strategic decisions to help investors develop a better understanding of the rationale and risks associated with future acquisitions....." (Click here to read the full text)

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 108 hedge fund portfolios held ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) at the end of the first quarter which was 118 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) and highlighted its fastest growing cybersecurity arm marked by the launch of six Autonomous Security solutions. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.