Latest news with #ProPlus
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Should You Hold ServiceNow (NOW)?
Sands Capital, an investment management company, released its 'Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund' Q1 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Technology Innovators focus on pioneering businesses worldwide that serve as key drivers or beneficiaries of significant long-term changes driven by technology. The fund returned -10.4% (net) in the first quarter compared to a 9.4% return for the benchmark, MSCI ACWI Info Tech and Communication Services Index. The choice of securities in the software sector was the primary factor negatively impacting relative performance. You can check the fund's top 5 holdings to know more about its best picks for 2025. In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund highlighted stocks such as ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW). ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) offers intelligent workflow automation solutions for digital businesses. The one-month return of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) was 7.58%, and its shares gained 40.52% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 27, 2025, ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) stock closed at $1,027.39 per share, with a market capitalization of $212.65 billion. Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund stated the following regarding ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: "ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is the leading provider of enterprise workflow automation software, based on market share. Shares declined during the quarter amid uncertainty around U.S. federal government spending, which accounts for roughly 10 percent of ServiceNow's revenue and has been a meaningful growth driver in recent years. These concerns were reflected in the company's full-year 2025 outlook, which incorporated a stronger U.S. dollar and cautious assumptions for its federal business. Despite this, ServiceNow continues to guide for 100 basis points (1 percent) of operating margin expansion this year. We continue to view the company as one of the best positioned software beneficiaries of AI. A key proof point: Pro Plus, an AI-enhanced upgrade to its Pro tier, grew 150 percent quarter-over-quarter and is now in use by 1,000 customers." A team of software engineers at desks working on code for a cutting-edge cloud computing solution. ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 106 hedge fund portfolios held ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) at the end of the first quarter, which was 110 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains. In another article, we covered ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) and shared the list of stocks on Jim Cramer's radar. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Tom's Guide
16-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
I tested the latest Instant Pot Pro — this Wi-Fi-enabled multi cooker is perfect for lazy home chefs like me
If I could choose just one kitchen appliance to keep for the rest of my life, it'd be my Instant Pot. So when I found out that Instant was releasing a brand new and improved model of my beloved multi-cooker, I couldn't wait to test it. The Instant Pot Pro is the successor to the soon-to-be-discontinued (in the U.K., not the U.S.) Instant Pot Pro Plus. While both these models have Wi-Fi connectivity, 10 cooking modes, and a huge 5.7 litre capacity, the Pro sets itself apart with a faster pre-heating time and a WhisperQuiet steam release. Is that enough to make it the best Instant Pot in 2025? Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out the answer. I'll go through everything in this Instant Pot Pro review. Price £249 Weight 6.8 kilograms Dimensions 35.5 x 35.5 x 32.5 centimetres Colors Blue-black Material BPA-free plastic, stainless steel Capacity 5.7 litres Smart home Yes Dishwasher safe Yes - lid and inner pot Warranty 1 year The Instant Pot Pro is £249 from Amazon U.K.. It will not be released in the U.S., so if you're a U.S. reader looking for the newest smart Instant Pot, that would be the fantastic Instant Pot Pro Plus (the model I personally use). Instant Pot has a huge range of multi-cookers: the Pro Plus (mentioned above) will be discontinued in the U.K., so the Pro (this model) and the Plus (the cheaper model) will replace it. If you only need a super basic Instant Pot and don't care about Wi-Fi connectivity, the £99 Instant Pot Multi-Cooker is a great option: it does everything the pricier models do but without the bells and whistles. I think £249 is quite expensive for an Instant Pot, but it could be worth it. The Pro has a huge 10 cooking settings (the same as the previous model Pro Plus, but 3 more than the entry-level Instant Pot Duo), which I'll get into fully below. While some people don't care about smart home connectivity, I actually do use my Instant Connect app — I can cook dinner from bed, or even while still at the office. The new Instant Pot Pro has a few design changes from the previous iteration, the Instant Pot Pro Plus. Whereas the Pro Plus is black with a wide touchscreen, the Pro is a blueish design with a narrower screen. I don't think the smaller touchscreen impacts usability at all; the screen is still easy to navigate. I will mention that I think the screen could be brighter, but, again, this doesn't negatively impact usability in the slightest. One of the major changes from the Pro Plus to the Pro is the absence of written modes. Instead of 'Pressure cook', the Pro has graphic icons instead. While most of these icons are quite self-explanatory (saute, for example, is represented by a spatula, and pressure cook is represented by shooting steam), I can imagine that some users might have a bit of trouble memorizing the graphics. Another major change is the inclusion of a 'WhisperQuiet' steam release cover. This cover sits on the steam release nozzle on the Pro's lid and basically quietens steam release. It's removable for easy cleaning, as is the condensation catch chamber. I must say: do not forget to clean these two. Like its predecessor the Pro Plus, the Pro also has Wi-Fi connectivity. This is all done through the Instant Connect app, which is a smart home app I actually really like. Other smart home products often have me rolling my eyes at their superfluous apps, but Instant Connect is chock full of recipes, tips, and more. A word of warning: you'll need to connect the Instant Pot Pro to the app option 'Instant Pot Pro Max (Wi-Fi)', not the product's actual name 'Instant Pot Pro'. You'll also need to ensure you have the newest version of the app, as this is a new product. As you can see, you can find recipes on the Instant Connect app and save them on your phone. The recipes then walk you through step-by-step and send relevant cooking presets to your Instant Pot. While I don't find myself gravitating towards these (more of an 'I don't follow recipes because I'm too stubborn' issue than anything Instant Pot has done), it's a good option for those who do follow recipes. Using the app, I was able to switch my Instant Pot on while out of the house, which is a great feature that benefits me monumentally on office days. As mentioned above, Instant claims that the Pro's pre-heating time is decreased from previous models. When pre-heating from cold, the Pro (2025) took 7 minutes and 9 seconds whereas the Pro Plus (2024) took 10 minutes and 1 second. Steam release took 10 seconds for the Pro and 50 seconds for the Pro Plus, which meant my whole meal was ready much faster when using the Pro. One of the main changes from the Instant Pot Pro Plus is the WhisperQuiet steam release. I used DecibelX to monitor sound levels. My Instant Pot Pro Plus peaked at 82dB during steam release, but the Pro peaked at 74dB. As Instant Pots are known primarily for their pressure cooking capabilities, I thought I'd discuss this first. To be honest, 99% of the time, I'm using the 'Pressure cook' function anyway. What I love about pressure cooking is that you can go from ingredients to a hot, fully-cooked meal in 10 minutes — give or take. For this review, I cooked a Thai red curry with tofu, potatoes, carrots, curry paste, coconut milk, and stock. One of the most important hacks I've learnt while using my Instant Pot Pro Plus is that if you're going from sauté to pressure cook, do not stir. Sauté the ingredients as normal, then deglaze with stock or water to ensure the entire bottom of the pot is clean. Then add your liquids first and your solids next. Do not stir — let the liquid line the bottom of the pot. This is to prevent the dreaded 'Burn' notice. I followed this rule when making my curry, as I first sauteed the onions and curry paste, deglazed with coconut water, then added everything else (liquids first). I put the Instant Pot Pro on for 10 minutes and went to do something else. As the pot was already hot from sautéing, it skipped the laborious 'Pre-heating' stage that irks me when I use my Pro Plus. I'm glad that Instant Pot seems to have rectified this annoyance. After 10 minutes, the Pro started steam releasing. I'd set it on 'Quick' (as the flavor differences between 'Quick' and 'Natural' steam release are, in my opinion, minimal) it took only around ten minutes. Next, I cooked chickpeas. Usually dried beans take around 8 hours to cook on the stove, but I've cooked chickpeas from dried to fluffy in under an hour using an Instant Pot before. I put 3 cups of chickpeas in the inner pot with a 1:3 ratio of water, then set it to pressure cook for 45 minutes. Preheating took 16 minutes and steam release on 'Natural' took 27 minutes. However, on 'pressure cook', the Pro doesn't beep when it moves onto cooking, unlike the Instant Pot Pro Plus. It does, however, beep on other modes, like 'Sous vide'. After 45 minutes I had deliciously fluffy chickpeas, cooked to perfection. I probably could get away with cooking them for around 35 minutes and still get a similar result. I stand by my opinion that Instant Pots cook chickpeas better than any other method. To test the 'Rice' mode, I followed Instant's basmati rice recipe on its website. As directed, I measured 250g of basmati rice and 250ml water. Then I put the Pro on for 6 minutes on 'Rice' (high pressure), let it vent naturally for 10 minutes, followed by a quick release. The rice was fluffy, but a little underdone. I would recommend a little extra water than listed in Instant's recipe. It was also quite annoying to wash up the inner pot as the rice was very stuck to the bottom. For the 'Slow cook' test, I cooked another Thai red curry for direct comparison with pressure cook. I put it on for 6 hours with all the same ingredients; at hour 2, the top inch or so was still cold. However, after 6 hours the curry was hot all the way through. Taste-wise, I didn't notice enough of a difference from the pressure-cooked version to warrant slow-cooking. I think Instant Pot's line really excels with pressure cooking, and while the slow cooker still works, I wouldn't recommend it for saving time (obviously). I use my Instant Pot for pressure cooking 99% of the time. To put the 'Sous vide' setting to the test, I made some custards. I followed Instant's custard recipe (but made plain ones instead of coffee). Pre-heating the water to 83°C (as specified) took ages — over half an hour. I will also note that only 4 of my ramekins fit into the trivet and the inner pot, despite the recipe making 6 servings. Instant recommended checking on the custards after 30 minutes, and they were done at 57 minutes. While a bit of a hassle to set up, I really appreciate the inclusion of a sous vide function and I think this mode levels up the Pro. Instead of just being a pressure cooker or slow cooker, the Pro can also transform into a different cooker for specialty recipes. I've made yogurt in an Instant Pot before and let me tell you, it's a labor of love. Wait — I don't even think I love it, just tolerate it. However, that's not the Instant Pot's fault. The Instant Pot actually tries to take the pain out of yogurt making. By nature, it's a frustrating and tedious process. Even so, the 'Yogurt' setting on the Pro really does try. After scalding all equipment, I poured 3 litres of milk into the inner pot and started the 30 minute heating process, all automated by the Instant Pot. After the 30 minutes, the milk is supposed to be 83°C. I checked with my food thermometer, and it was 82.9°C. Then, the Instant Pot goes through a 30 minute cooling process, after which you put in the yogurt culture and let it ferment for a minimum of 8 hours. I set the fermentation time for 10 hours. After 10 hours, I had a lot of delicious, thick, perfectly tangy yogurt. For what it's worth, the Instant Pot really does make it easier than preparing yogurt in a pot. While it's not hugely easier than, say, a yogurt maker, this is a multi-purpose product that doesn't just do that one thing. I will say that washing the pot afterwards is very annoying — the scorched milk (gross) on the bottom of the pot is very tricky to get off, and this remains my biggest annoyance with Instant Pots. 'Sauté' mode is one of the most underrated functions on the Instant Pot. If I'm making soup, stew, sauce, or anything in the Instant Pot, I don't have to use another pan to fry onions. I can just make the entire dish in one pot. My favorite aspect of the Pro's 'Sauté' setting is that you can now choose the temperature. It ranges from 95°C to 195°C, which is more than enough variation. This wasn't an option on previous models I personally tested. I sautéd onions and curry paste for my Thai red curry, deglazed (very important) with the water from a tin of coconut milk, and then layered everything else in the pot for the slow cook and pressure cook. Sautéing works a treat, and I especially love that it's temperature controlled now. As with all Instant Pots I've tested, the Pro is quite large. I keep mine out of the kitchen between uses as there's not enough space on my counters. The Pro is a massive 35 centimetres tall and 32 centimetres wide, so unless you've got a massive kitchen (unlike me), I would recommend (like me) keeping it in storage between uses. Cleaning the inner pot of Instant Pots is always a nightmare — scorched food sticks to the bottom like hair on polystyrene — but you'll be pleased to know that the inner pot is completely dishwasher safe. Even the lid is dishwasher safe, so all you have to do is clean the outer cooker and make sure the condensation catcher and steam release cover are clean. Instant offers a standard 1-year warranty with all of its products. On top of the warranty, after-purchase care includes loads of downloadable recipe e-books on Instant's website. I think the Instant Pot Pro is a fantastic upgrade from the Pro Plus. Is it worth trashing your existing Pro Plus to purchase the newer model? No, obviously not. But if you don't have an Instant Pot and are looking to get the best model, the Pro is the only option. However, if you want a completely basic, beginner Instant Pot, I'd recommend the £99 Multi-Cooker (called Rio in the U.S.). This multi-cooker does basically everything the Pro does without the smart home connection. If you're in the U.S., the Pro isn't available and won't be available, however the Instant Pot Pro Plus is basically the same product, so I'll point you in that direction. For U.K. customers, though, the Pro is the best Instant Pot money can buy right now.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ServiceNow Stock Soars on AI Momentum. Is It Too Late to Buy?
Share prices of ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) popped after the software company reported strong revenue growth to start the year and raised its guidance. While it's still trading down about 10% year to date, as of this writing, the stock is up about 27% over the past year. Meanwhile, it has been a huge winner over the past decade, up more than 1,150% during that span. The software-as-a-subscription (SaaS) company is best known for its information technology (IT) management platform, which is widely used by IT departments to manage networks and support tasks. And now, with its workflow automation and digital processing tools, it is expanding into other areas such as human resources and customer service. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » The core value of its platform lies in connecting siloed departments and helping organizations digitize and streamline their operations. It also made some acquisitions, including Moveworks and to enhance its customer relationship management (CRM) offerings. It is also leaning into artificial intelligence (AI), incorporating both generative AI and agent-based AI into its platform. Its Now Assist, a generative AI assistant, helps customers in several ways, including providing an AI chatbot to handle questions, a text-to-code generator, and a case summarization tool. More recently, it introduced AI agents to automate workflows and provide support without the need for human intervention. AI was one of the biggest drivers of ServiceNow's first-quarter revenue growth. Its number of Pro Plus deals, which includes its AI solutions, more than quadrupled year over year. And 15 of its 20 largest deals included Pro Plus products. In addition, it signed 39 deals that had three or more Now Assist products. Overall, revenue rose 18.5% year over year to $3.09 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) also climbed 18.5% to $4.04. That topped the analyst consensus, which was looking for EPS of $3.83 on revenue of $3.08 billion, as compiled by the LSEG. Subscription revenue climbed 19% year over year to $3 billion, while professional services revenue increased 5% to $83 million. The company continues to do well in adding large customers, increasing its number of customers with a net annual contract value (ACV) or $20 million or more by nearly 40%, and customers with ACVs of $5 million or more by nearly 20%. It had 72 deals greater than $1 million in net new ACV in the quarter, up from 63 a year ago. The company called out the manufacturing and healthcare/life sciences sectors as being bright spots. It also said its U.S. government business was solid. Another metric investors like to follow with ServiceNow is growth in remaining performance obligations (RPO), which is deferred revenue plus backlog growth. The reason for this is that it can be an indication of future revenue growth. In the quarter, the company saw RPO climb 25% to $22.1 billion, while current RPO (cRPO) increased by 22% to $10.3 billion. This is a good indication that revenue growth should remain around 20% in the near term. In fact, that is around where the company forecast its second-quarter revenue growth. It projected its subscription revenue to grow between 19% to 19.5% to a range of $3.03 billion to $3.035 billion. It is expecting cRPO to also increase by 19.5%. For the full year, the company slightly increased its subscription revenue guidance. It now expects subscription revenue of between $12.64 billion to $12.68 billion, up from a prior forecast of $12.635 billion to $12.675 billion. The updated forecast represents growth between 19% to 19.5%. As a company that helps its customers create operational efficiency and enhance their digital platforms, ServiceNow is well-positioned even in a more cautious and uncertain economy. It's also expecting significant opportunities in the federal sector after budget cuts. It has even introduced a new government transformation suite that has been purpose-built to help accelerate digital transformation, increase transparency, and improve public service delivery. The company is looking like an AI software winner, and the combination of generative AI and agentic AI should only solidify its position. It's already seeing strong AI growth, and that should continue. From a valuation perspective, the stock now trades at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 14.8 based on 2025 analyst estimates. For a high-margin SaaS business with about 20% revenue growth, that valuation is reasonable, although not in the bargain bin. As such, I wouldn't chase the rally in the stock, but I think it still has solid upside from here over the long term. In the meantime, I would be on the lookout to buy the stock if it gets caught up in any market dips. Before you buy stock in ServiceNow, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and ServiceNow wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $594,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,390!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 872% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 160% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ServiceNow. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. ServiceNow Stock Soars on AI Momentum. Is It Too Late to Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2 Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy With $2,000
The stock market has gotten off to a rocky start this year, but market volatility is a small price to pay for the large gains of holding shares of a great business over many years. If you put your money in the right growth stocks, you can build wealth that lasts for generations. Consider that Coca-Cola has been around since 1886, yet its stock is still hitting new highs in 2025. If you have $2,000 extra cash you don't need for other life priorities, putting that cash to work in shares of leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies could be very rewarding over the next decade and beyond. The following AI stocks would make solid additions to a well-rounded portfolio of growth investments. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Companies are in the process of investing substantial sums in AI. ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a leader provider of AI software that helps businesses streamline workflows and increase operating efficiency. It is used by leading companies, including the U.S. government, and it continues to see strong demand. The company just announced another quarter of strong growth that has the stock moving higher. ServiceNow's subscription revenue grew 19% year-over-year in Q1, exceeding expectations. Wall Street was fearful that uncertainty in the economy would weigh on near-term investment in software, but ServiceNow's momentum isn't slowing. It closed 72 deals over $1 million in net new annual contract value. It is positioning to be a leader in agentic AI. AI agents are super-intelligent assistants that can take a request by the user and complete a series of tasks to solve a problem. Demand for advanced AI features drove a 150% year-over-year increase in the number of deals for ServiceNow's Pro Plus AI offerings last quarter. ServiceNow also seems well positioned to benefit from potential new deals in its federal government business, where it has more than 1,700 federal and public sector customers. The Trump administration's goal to increase government efficiency certainly plays to ServiceNow's capabilities. Its U.S. public sector revenue grew over 30% year-over-year in Q1, including one new customer in the federal government. What's clear is that ServiceNow is emerging as a go-to solution for leading organizations wanting to use AI to improve productivity and modernize operations. The need to reduce costs and improve efficiency is becoming more urgent than ever. As each company adopts AI solutions, it leads to a domino effect where other companies are basically forced to adopt similar solutions to stay competitive. This is fueling ServiceNow's momentum. The stock popped 23% following its Q1 earnings results, but it's still trading more than 30% from its recent highs. Investors could split their $2,000 and buy one share of ServiceNow. Analysts are projecting the company's earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 30%, which could fuel handsome gains for investors over the next several years. The demand for AI software also fuels growth for leading suppliers of advanced computing chips. Training applications to solve problems without human input requires substantial investment in graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI training, and Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) GPUs are the gold standard. Nvidia has been the leader in GPUs for many years. As the leading supplier of very pricey chips, it is a highly profitable business, with $73 billion in trailing-12-month net income. It has growing resources to invest in innovation to remain the leader for years to come. Nvidia's chips were the popular choice the past few years that helped train the AI for OpenAI's ChatGPT and other popular AI models. Cloud giants like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud are some of Nvidia's top customers. Nvidia's new Blackwell chips are in high demand, with analysts expecting the company's revenue to increase 55% to $201 billion this year. Annual spending on data center infrastructure, which is Nvidia's largest addressable market, is expected to reach $1 trillion in the coming years, according to Dell'Oro Group. But CEO Jensen Huang believes that the market for GPU-based computing systems could be hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. That's based on the idea that every company and industry will one day run on AI. Analysts expect Nvidia's earnings to grow more than 35% per year over the next several years. Yet investors can currently buy the shares for 22 times this year's consensus earnings estimate. That's modest for a company growing at these rates. Investors who split their money between ServiceNow and Nvidia will own shares of two dominant AI companies on the software and hardware side and will be in a great position to profit from the growth of AI. Before you buy stock in ServiceNow, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and ServiceNow wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $594,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,390!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 872% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 160% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, and ServiceNow. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy With $2,000 was originally published by The Motley Fool
Globe and Mail
27-04-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
2 Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy With $2,000
The stock market has gotten off to a rocky start this year, but market volatility is a small price to pay for the large gains of holding shares of a great business over many years. If you put your money in the right growth stocks, you can build wealth that lasts for generations. Consider that Coca-Cola has been around since 1886, yet its stock is still hitting new highs in 2025. If you have $2,000 extra cash you don't need for other life priorities, putting that cash to work in shares of leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies could be very rewarding over the next decade and beyond. The following AI stocks would make solid additions to a well-rounded portfolio of growth investments. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » 1. ServiceNow Companies are in the process of investing substantial sums in AI. ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is a leader provider of AI software that helps businesses streamline workflows and increase operating efficiency. It is used by leading companies, including the U.S. government, and it continues to see strong demand. The company just announced another quarter of strong growth that has the stock moving higher. ServiceNow's subscription revenue grew 19% year-over-year in Q1, exceeding expectations. Wall Street was fearful that uncertainty in the economy would weigh on near-term investment in software, but ServiceNow's momentum isn't slowing. It closed 72 deals over $1 million in net new annual contract value. It is positioning to be a leader in agentic AI. AI agents are super-intelligent assistants that can take a request by the user and complete a series of tasks to solve a problem. Demand for advanced AI features drove a 150% year-over-year increase in the number of deals for ServiceNow's Pro Plus AI offerings last quarter. ServiceNow also seems well positioned to benefit from potential new deals in its federal government business, where it has more than 1,700 federal and public sector customers. The Trump administration's goal to increase government efficiency certainly plays to ServiceNow's capabilities. Its U.S. public sector revenue grew over 30% year-over-year in Q1, including one new customer in the federal government. What's clear is that ServiceNow is emerging as a go-to solution for leading organizations wanting to use AI to improve productivity and modernize operations. The need to reduce costs and improve efficiency is becoming more urgent than ever. As each company adopts AI solutions, it leads to a domino effect where other companies are basically forced to adopt similar solutions to stay competitive. This is fueling ServiceNow's momentum. The stock popped 23% following its Q1 earnings results, but it's still trading more than 30% from its recent highs. Investors could split their $2,000 and buy one share of ServiceNow. Analysts are projecting the company's earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 30%, which could fuel handsome gains for investors over the next several years. 2. Nvidia The demand for AI software also fuels growth for leading suppliers of advanced computing chips. Training applications to solve problems without human input requires substantial investment in graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI training, and Nvidia 's (NASDAQ: NVDA) GPUs are the gold standard. Nvidia has been the leader in GPUs for many years. As the leading supplier of very pricey chips, it is a highly profitable business, with $73 billion in trailing-12-month net income. It has growing resources to invest in innovation to remain the leader for years to come. Nvidia's chips were the popular choice the past few years that helped train the AI for OpenAI's ChatGPT and other popular AI models. Cloud giants like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud are some of Nvidia's top customers. Nvidia's new Blackwell chips are in high demand, with analysts expecting the company's revenue to increase 55% to $201 billion this year. Annual spending on data center infrastructure, which is Nvidia's largest addressable market, is expected to reach $1 trillion in the coming years, according to Dell'Oro Group. But CEO Jensen Huang believes that the market for GPU-based computing systems could be hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. That's based on the idea that every company and industry will one day run on AI. Analysts expect Nvidia's earnings to grow more than 35% per year over the next several years. Yet investors can currently buy the shares for 22 times this year's consensus earnings estimate. That's modest for a company growing at these rates. Investors who split their money between ServiceNow and Nvidia will own shares of two dominant AI companies on the software and hardware side and will be in a great position to profit from the growth of AI. Should you invest $1,000 in ServiceNow right now? Before you buy stock in ServiceNow, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and ServiceNow wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $594,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $680,390!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is872% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to160%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, and ServiceNow. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
