Aslan Research · AI software
ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW)
Data as of 2026-08-21 · 27 quarters · filed in USD
Revenue reached $14.7 billion over the trailing year, while expenses were $13.7 billion. Revenue growth and expense growth both ran at 24%, even as committed obligations grew faster at 55%.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports $7.5B of debt; has promised $8.5B
Leases add $936 million to the $7.5 billion of reported debt, bringing total committed obligations to $8.5 billion. That makes commitments 1.1x reported debt.
What the promised total is made of, latest quarter
Spending, by reported line
When the promises come due
The filings show $20.5 billion due over the next 5 years against $29.0 billion of backlog. The backlog equals 2.0x one year of revenue, giving the future payment wall substantial contracted work to compare with.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
4 patterns worth a second look
The sharpest flag is that 18 of 27 quarters changed through reconciliation. Filings also report off-balance-sheet lease, cloud, and data-center commitments, plus related-party equity awards and trading plans. A FY2025 filing reports major post-period financing and acquisition commitments, while attached revisions include a restatement-scale change in diluted shares.
off balance sheet · 1
Filings repeatedly report large obligations for leases not yet commenced and non-cancellable cloud and data-center commitments outside debt balances.
related party exposure · 1
Filings report substantial executive and employee equity awards and executive trading plans.
subsequent event · 1
The FY2025 filing reports major post-period financing and acquisition commitments that recontextualize the period-end obligations.
value revision · 1
Several attached revisions are substantive, including a restatement-scale change in diluted shares; smaller tax and income revisions appear clerical or rounding-level.