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NOW
ServiceNow, Inc. · Technology
$95.04
-6.67% this month
VERSUS
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ADBE
Adobe Inc. · Technology
$195.16
-23.46% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
NOW
0
ADBE
5
Comparison scoreboard
ADBE LEADS 5/5AI Score
NOW 38.4
ADBE ✓40.2
1Y Return
NOW -52.71%
ADBE ✓-49.00%
Fwd P/E
NOW 20.32
ADBE ✓7.45
Target Up.
NOW +38.88%
ADBE ✓+41.98%
Op. Margin
NOW 13.34%
ADBE ✓33.82%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
NOW vs ADBE Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
ServiceNow and Adobe are both premium-valued enterprise software companies with dominant positions in their respective markets. ServiceNow owns enterprise IT workflow automation and is expanding into all enterprise workflows with AI agents. Adobe owns professional creative software and is integrating AI (Firefly) into creative workflows. Both are subscription SaaS businesses with high switching costs and strong revenue visibility.
NOW vs ADBE is enterprise workflow automation leader expanding AI agents across IT, HR, and finance workflows with no close substitute (ServiceNow) versus the creative software monopoly integrating generative AI into professional creative tools with Figma as the primary long-term competitive threat (Adobe) — both are high-quality SaaS compounders with premium valuations.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
ADBE holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ADBE leads on both 1-year return (-49.00%) and forward P/E (7.45x vs 20.32x for NOW), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, NOW is growing revenue faster (22.10%), while ADBE maintains the higher operating margin (33.82%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ADBE (+41.98%) than for NOW (+38.88%).
Normalized 1Y performance
NOW
ADBE
Recent returns
NOW
ADBE
Analyst price targets & sentiment
NOW · 41 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.5/5.0)
Price target range
analyst high$1,300.00
analyst mean$141.86
current price$95.04
+38.9% upside to analyst mean
ADBE · 34 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.9/5.0)
Price target range
analyst high$630.00
analyst mean$289.68
current price$195.16
+42.0% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
NOW may suit investors who:
- →prefer enterprise IT workflow automation with Now Assist AI agents delivering measurable ROI — AI that resolves tickets autonomously has clear enterprise value justification
- →value ServiceNow's expansion path from ITSM into HR, legal, finance, and supply chain — platform expansion into adjacent workflows compounds revenue without new customer acquisition
- →want the highest-quality enterprise AI platform positioned at the operating center of large enterprise IT operations with extremely high switching costs
- →are comfortable with 30–40x revenue valuation requiring sustained exceptional growth and Microsoft/Salesforce workflow AI competition
ADBE may suit investors who:
- →prefer the creative software monopoly with Firefly AI integration attracting both professional retention and non-professional expansion of the creative tool user base
- →value Adobe's commercially safe generative AI trained on licensed content — a meaningful enterprise adoption advantage vs copyright-uncertain competing AI models
- →want Document Cloud exposure as the enterprise PDF and e-signature standard with Acrobat deeply embedded in business document workflows
- →are comfortable with Figma competitive pressure in collaborative design, Canva competition for non-professional users, and Creative Cloud growth moderation from pandemic peaks
Performance & AI score
| Metric | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 38.4 | 40.2 |
| AI rank | #1286 | #1073 |
| Latest close | $95.04 | $195.16 |
| 1M return | -6.67% | -23.46% |
| 6M return | -39.26% | -44.97% |
| 1Y return | -52.71% | -49.00% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $4.84K (-51.6%) started 2025-06-18 | $5.16K (-48.4%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $8.89K (-11.1%) started 2021-06-21 | $3.44K (-65.6%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $13.09K (+30.9%) started 2016-06-20 | $19.92K (+99.2%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $105.35B | $82.46B |
| Trailing P/E | 60.80 | 11.67 |
| Forward P/E | 20.32 | 7.45 |
| Price/Sales | 18.61 | 8.06 |
| EV/Revenue | 7.35 | 3.31 |
| Analyst target | $141.86 | $289.68 |
| Target upside | +38.88% | +41.98% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 22.10% | 12.70% |
| Earnings growth | 2.30% | 7.90% |
| EPS growth | +2.30% | +7.90% |
| FCF margin | +36.59% | +35.87% |
| Operating margin | 13.34% | 33.82% |
| Profit margin | 12.59% | 28.69% |
| ROIC proxy | 16.07% | 62.95% |
| Return on equity | 16.07% | 62.95% |
| Dividend yield | N/A | N/A |
| Beta | 0.93 | 1.40 |
| Debt/equity | 20.73 | 61.34 |
| Current ratio | 0.84 | 0.75 |
| Quick ratio | 0.69 | 0.63 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
NOW max drawdown60.28%
ADBE max drawdown50.23%
NOW max wkly drop18.63%
ADBE max wkly drop18.86%
5Y risk snapshot
NOW max drawdown64.54%
ADBE max drawdown71.65%
NOW max wkly drop18.63%
ADBE max wkly drop25.31%
10Y risk snapshot
NOW max drawdown79.88%
ADBE max drawdown71.65%
NOW max wkly drop79.56%
ADBE max wkly drop25.31%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -51.61% | -48.38% |
| CAGR | -51.66% | -48.42% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.28 | -1.87 | |
| Max drawdown | 60.28% | 50.23% | |
| Max daily drop | 17.75% | 7.58% | |
| Max wkly drop | 18.63% | 18.86% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -11.14% | -65.60% |
| CAGR | -2.34% | -19.25% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.06 | -0.52 | |
| Max drawdown | 64.54% | 71.65% | |
| Max daily drop | 17.75% | 16.79% | |
| Max wkly drop | 18.63% | 25.31% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +30.91% | +99.16% |
| CAGR | +2.73% | +7.14% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.59 | 0.24 | |
| Max drawdown | 79.88% | 71.65% | |
| Max daily drop | 79.81% | 16.79% | |
| Max wkly drop | 79.56% | 25.31% |
Business comparison
| Category | NOW | ADBE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | ServiceNow, Inc. | Adobe Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Application | Software - Application |
| Core business | ServiceNow provides cloud-based enterprise workflow automation software — primarily IT service management (ITSM), but expanding into HR, legal, finance, customer service, and supply chain workflows. ServiceNow's AI platform (Now Assist) embeds generative AI into workflow automation, enabling AI agents to autonomously handle IT tickets, HR requests, and business processes. Its platform is deeply embedded in enterprise IT operations — most large enterprises use ServiceNow to manage IT incidents, change management, and service requests. | Adobe is the world's dominant creative software company, providing Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Acrobat, and the Document Cloud through Creative Cloud subscriptions. Adobe's Firefly generative AI model is integrated into creative workflows — enabling text-to-image, generative fill, and video generation within professional creative tools. Adobe's Document Cloud (Acrobat, Sign) is the enterprise PDF and e-signature standard. Failed Figma acquisition ($20B deal terminated by regulators) removed a potential vector for design collaboration expansion. |
| Investor focus | Investors track subscription revenue growth (the company's primary metric), remaining performance obligation (RPO) as forward visibility, Now Assist AI agent adoption, and customer count growth at the $1M+ ACV tier. | Investors track Creative Cloud subscription ARR growth, Firefly AI model monetization (Firefly premium credits, Firefly Enterprise), Document Cloud ARR growth, and new subscriber counts as creative AI tools attract non-professional creators. |
NOW strengths
- →ITSM market leadership creates platform expansion opportunity — once a company runs IT workflows on ServiceNow, expanding to HR, legal, and finance workflows is a natural upsell
- →Now Assist AI agents are positioned as the highest-value enterprise AI use case — AI that autonomously resolves IT tickets and HR requests delivers measurable ROI that justifies premium pricing
- →High switching costs: replacing ServiceNow requires migrating all workflow logic, integrations, and historical data — enterprise customers stay for years or decades
ADBE strengths
- →Creative software monopoly: Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro are the professional standards — no professional creates serious work on alternatives to Adobe's flagship tools
- →Firefly generative AI is commercially safe (trained on licensed content) — a unique advantage vs competitors using potentially copyright-infringing training data, enabling enterprise adoption
- →Document Cloud's Acrobat PDF standard is deeply embedded in enterprise workflows — PDFs and e-signatures remain essential business document formats
Risks to watch — NOW
- →ServiceNow's valuation (30–40x forward revenue) demands sustained exceptional revenue growth — any deceleration creates significant downside risk
- →Microsoft (Power Automate, Copilot for IT) and Salesforce (Agentforce) are both building enterprise workflow AI platforms that compete with ServiceNow's AI expansion
- →ServiceNow's non-ITSM expansion (HR, legal, finance) faces competition from entrenched vertical software in each category
Risks to watch — ADBE
- →Figma acquisition failure removed Adobe's most important defense against design collaboration disruption — Figma's web-based collaborative design platform continues growing into Adobe's professional design market
- →Canva, Midjourney, and other AI-native creative tools are attracting non-professional creators who would have previously been Adobe entry-level users
- →Creative Cloud ARR growth has moderated from pandemic highs — sustaining above-market growth requires Firefly AI to both retain existing subscribers and attract new ones
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