ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): Among The High Growth Companies Hedge Funds Are Buying

We recently published a list of 15 High Growth Companies Hedge Funds Are Buying. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) stands against other high growth stocks.

The global economy in 2025 is expected to face modest growth amid ongoing challenges, with projections for US GDP at 2%, the Eurozone at 0.9%, and China at 4.2%. Inflation is likely to remain high because of increasing fiscal spending and potential tariffs, and central banks may have limited room to cut rates, leading to uncertain markets and possible volatility. However, rising productivity driven by AI and other emerging technologies offers long-term promise. The US is expected to benefit the most from these gains, while Europe may lag behind due to slower investment and tech adoption.

According to Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, policy is shifting from monetary to fiscal, with countries like China expected to launch growth initiatives. Equities, particularly American stocks, are favored by investors, supported by profit growth and favorable policy expectations. Bond markets and commodities also offer opportunities, and infrastructure investment is considered a long-term growth area. Similarly, despite the current market uncertainty, BlackRock believes there is reason to stay optimistic about developed market stocks in the next 6 to 12 months. American Treasuries, which used to act as a safety net when stocks dropped, have not offered the same protection lately. In addition, the dollar lost ground in recent selloffs, which is unusual. As a result, some investors are turning to alternatives like gold, which has hit record highs. The rise of AI is also reshaping the market, creating more concentration in a few big tech names. That can strengthen returns, but it also raises risks. Private capital is in demand too, though higher interest rates may weigh on future returns there.

As markets get more unpredictable, many investors are starting to follow hedge funds, hoping they can repeat last year’s strong returns and stay ahead of the curve. In 2024, hedge funds posted remarkable performance, leveraging the volatility and policy shifts in the markets. The average return through November was 10.7%, which is a significant improvement over the 5.7% return for the same period in 2023. This uptick was supported by market turbulence, changes in central bank policies, and the uncertainty surrounding the American presidential election. Notably, some hedge funds saw spectacular gains, such as Light Street Capital’s long/short tech fund skyrocketing 59.4%, while Discovery Capital, a macro-focused fund, posted a 52% return. Bridgewater's Pure Alpha fund gained 11%, and Marshall Wace, a major British hedge fund, saw impressive returns across several of its funds, including a 14% return in its Eureka fund. Multi-strategy funds like Citadel and Millennium also performed well.

Our Methodology

For this article, we used the Finviz screener and filtered out stocks with 5-year revenue growth of over 20%, verifying this information from additional sources. We picked the 15 stocks with the highest hedge fund sentiment to compile this list, taking data from Insider Monkey's database of Q4 2024. We ranked the list from least to most hedge fund holders.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 110

Average 5-Year Revenue Growth: 26.82%

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is a California-based company that operates a cloud-based platform enabling businesses to automate and streamline their workflows. It offers AI-powered tools for machine learning, automation, and analytics, in addition to solutions for IT service management, security, asset management, and customer service. NOW is one of the best high growth stocks to monitor.

On May 1, Truist analysts upgraded ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) to Buy from Hold and raised the price target from $950 to $1,200, citing the company’s strong position in AI and enterprise IT. Analysts believe ServiceNow’s platform will drive continued growth, especially in CRM and AI. Despite its premium valuation, Truist sees solid long-term potential, forecasting strong revenue growth in the coming years.

ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) reported $3.005 billion in subscription revenue for Q1 2025, up 19% from the same period last year. The company's AI-driven platform is helping businesses transform, and NOW is seeing strong growth in new contracts. It is also making some strategic moves, including acquiring Moveworks and Logik.ai to boost its AI and CRM capabilities. ServiceNow has also partnered with companies like Aptiv, Vodafone, and Google Cloud to further expand its AI solutions across different industries.

According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 110 hedge funds reported owning stakes in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW), compared to 78 funds in the last quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the largest stakeholder of the company, with 1.6 million shares valued at $1.78 billion.

Overall, NOW ranks 5th among the high growth companies hedge funds are buying. While we acknowledge the potential of NOW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NOW but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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