After a stock rebound in the opening weeks of the new year, ServiceNow Inc. reported earnings that topped expectations and projected stronger revenue growth than Wall Street expected Wednesday, but shares sank more than 7% in late trading. ServiceNow
NOW,
+1.21%
hauled in fourth-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion, compared with $1.61 billion a year ago. The cloud-software company’s earnings were $150 million, or 74 cents a share, up from $26 million, or 13 cents a share last year. Adjusted earnings were $2.28 a share, up from $1.46 a share in the holiday season a year ago.
Wall Street analysts tracked by FactSet had estimated revenue of $1.94 billion on earnings of $2.02 a share. Shares dropped more than 7% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the results, after closing with a 1.2% increase at $448.51. ServiceNow shares subsequently rebounded later during its conference call with analysts. ServiceNow offered fiscal first-quarter subscription revenue guidance of $1.99 billion to $2 billion, higher than the average analyst forecast of $1.94 billion, according to FactSet. For the full year, ServiceNow guided for subscription revenue of $8.44 billion to $8.5 billion, topping the average analyst estimate of $8.34 billion. “Customers know they have to do more with less,” ServiceNow Chief Executiv …