ServiceNow’s share price slid in after-hours trading despite major revenue growth being announced in the company’s fourth quarter results. Credit: Sqback / Getty Images Enterprise software and workplace management orchestrator ServiceNow announced rosy revenue numbers in its Q4 2022 earnings call Wednesday evening, saying that total revenues topped $1.9 billion, which represents a 20% year-on-year increase. IDC analyst Stephen Elliot noted strong corporate management and the company’s expansion into the workplace experience market as contributing factors in the reported growth. Most of ServiceNow’s revenue came from service subscriptions, which rose to $1.86 billion in the quarter, a 22% year-on-year rise. The company’s current remaining performance obligations, which represent contract revenue that will be recognized as such in ServiceNow’s numbers within the next 12 months, rose to nearly $7 billion as of the reporting date. That’s a 22% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott was bullish on the company’s performance, saying that the market conditions that have helped grow ServiceNow’s revenues should remain strong in the foreseeable future. “Our Q4 surge in new business shows that the secular tailwinds of digitization aren’t going anywhere,” he said in a statement accompanying the results. “The world works with ServiceNow as the end-to-end platform for digital transformation.” ServiceNow’s substantial growth exceeded profitability guidance, according to CFO Gina Mastantuono, who credited net-new annual contract value gains for much of the surge. “What’s more, our results were generated with a lower mix of early renewals from 2023, providing us more opportunities to drive further expansion throughout the year,” she said in the statement. Despite the growth, ServiceNow’s stock price dropped nearly 8% in after-hours trading, for reasons that weren’t immediately clear. McDermott, however, has vowed “absolutely no layoffs in 2023,” according to a report from Bloomberg, bucking a trend among technology vendors of late. IDC’s Elliot, who is group vice president of I&O, cloud operations, and DevOps, credited a healthy corporate culture for ServiceNow’s continued success, saying that, while rapid growth can sometimes cause companies to lose some of their strengths over time, ServiceNow has managed to avoid that. “I’d say that they’re hitting on all cylinders,” he said. “I also think that they have been very consistent and focused on what customers are looking for, and translating that into investments in the company.” This isn’t a surprise, Elliot added, given the strong leadership across ServiceNow’s management ranks. He credited McDermott, in particular, for helping to minimize internal politics and other distractions that can sap a company’s momentum as it expands into new business areas. “They’ve had so much success with the IT management business,” he said. “And over the course of the past five years, the expansion into field service management, HR, employee experience businesses; [their focus] has continued to drive them.” Related content news SAP, IBM Consulting partner to offer genAI-based services The partnership will see both companies offer generative AI-based services to enterprises via RISE with SAP offering. By Anirban Ghoshal May 09, 2024 3 mins Generative AI IBM SAP feature Essential skills and traits of chief AI officers CAIOs require a multidimensional skill set to drive innovation, establish and lead an AI-ready culture, and create tangible organizational results leveraging a complex and rapidly evolving technology. By David Weldon May 09, 2024 9 mins Artificial Intelligence IT Leadership case study How being cloud smart fosters growth at Saab Fuelled by global turbulence and increasing defense budgets, Swedish defense group Saab is meeting high demand by integrating efforts to become more software-driven, and central to managing it all is CIO Annette Eriksson. By Karin Lindström May 09, 2024 5 mins CIO Aerospace and Defense Industry Cloud Architecture interview Strong CIO-CISO relations fuel success at Ally CIO Sathish Muthukrishnan and CISO Donna Hart have forged a partnership steeped in Ally’s culture of radical candor that keeps the financial services firm secure and innovative. By Dan Roberts May 09, 2024 9 mins CIO CSO and CISO IT Leadership PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe