24/7 Wall Street
21 Aug 2026, 12:48 UTC · 8w ago
Impact · against what's priced in
Salesforce appears undervalued relative to its cash flow and buyback program, while ServiceNow's high multiple is challenged by significant GAAP profitability declines. The rotation from AI hardware to software provides a structural tailwind for both, but the immediate risk-reward favors the lower-multiple CRM.
No priced-in read yet
What the story claims
5 claims · scored −1 bearish … +1 bullish
Salesforce has initiated an accelerated share buyback program totaling $25 billion.
So whatLarge-scale buybacks provide a strong floor for stock prices and signal management's confidence in valuation.
More positive than 94% of claims this week
ServiceNow's GAAP operating income fell 54.75% due to amortization from acquisitions of Moveworks, Veza, and Armis.
So whatA significant drop in GAAP profitability can trigger sell-offs or multiple compression if margins do not recover.
Continue reading
5 related stories
A $25 billion accelerated buyback and $6.7 billion in operating cash flow provide a strong safety margin, though softness in Marketing and Tableau remains a headwind.
Read from the article alone
No priced-in read yet
The stock is characterized as having been 'left for dead' amid the broader AI software pivot.
Read from the article alone
No priced-in read yet
Strong AI ACV growth and subscription revenue are offset by a 54.75% drop in GAAP operating income and a 6.5-point drop in GAAP subscription gross margin.
Read from the article alone
Scored by the NIS engine · methodology.
Top 2 movers · tap to explore
More negative than 84% of claims this week
Salesforce and ServiceNow are seeing a rotation of AI capital from hardware into the application layer, with both crossing $1 billion AI revenue milestones.
More positive than 68% of claims this week
Salesforce is experiencing softness in its Marketing and Tableau business segments.
More negative than 68% of claims this week
ServiceNow's subscription revenue grew 24.5% to $3.877 billion, supported by agentic deployments increasing 9x in nine months.
So whatStrong top-line growth and rapid AI adoption justify a growth premium despite valuation concerns.
More positive than 56% of claims this week
Which stocks this story touches
More positive than 68% of ticker scores this week
Strong cash flow and a massive buyback provide a safety margin despite softness in Marketing and Tableau.
More negative than 71% of ticker scores this week
Described as a stock that has been 'left for dead'.
More positive than 62% of ticker scores this week
Impressive AI growth and ACV milestones are offset by high valuation and falling GAAP operating income.
More negative than 61% of ticker scores this week
Mentioned as part of a market rotation where capital is moving out of AI hardware.
Near neutral — 91% of ticker scores this week are stronger
Mentioned only as the entity reinstating coverage of ServiceNow.
Near neutral — 91% of ticker scores this week are stronger
Mentioned as having a different profile to ServiceNow without specific positive or negative detail.
Free · No account
Get a free daily PDF briefing — the last 24 hours of news, with summaries and the market-impact score for each story, delivered an hour before the open.
We’ll watch
Pre-filled from this story — remove any you don’t want. Add more tickers & tags or fine-tune your watchlist anytime — every email has an edit link, no account needed.
Free forever · one email a day, max · unsubscribe in one click.How it works
The Motley Fool
53m ago
+17.7%
Price agrees with the score
$241.78 vs $205.43 close before publication (Aug 20) · not market-adjusted
CRM chart →−13.9%
Price agrees with the score
$13.71 vs $15.92 close before publication (Aug 20) · not market-adjusted
PATH chart →+18.0%
Price is moving against the score
$153.12 vs $129.75 close before publication (Aug 20) · not market-adjusted
NOW chart →
