ADBE vs. NOW: Adobe vs. ServiceNow Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW) both belong to the Software industry, though ADBE is classified under Application Software while NOW falls under Systems Software.

Company profile comparison for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Profile Item	ADBE	NOW
Name	Adobe Inc.	ServiceNow Inc.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Information Technology	Information Technology
GICS Industry Group	Software & Services	Software & Services
GICS Industry	Software	Software
GICS Sub-Industry	Application Software	Systems Software
Market Capitalization	93.14 billion USD	105.84 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	Nasdaq	NYSE
Listing Date	August 13, 1986	June 29, 2012
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

ADBE

NOW

GSPC

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Total Return (1Y)	-27.09%	-39.72%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	-25.55%	-5.71%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-18.62%	-5.55%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

ADBE

NOW

GSPC

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	41.62%	64.49%
Beta (5Y)	1.38	0.98
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-71.90%	-64.54%
Avg. Volume (3M)	4.61M	15.74M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

ADBE and NOW are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.75	-0.68
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-1.04	-0.89

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Adobe (ADBE) at 61.90% clears its industry range for ROE, a sharper capital-efficiency signal than ServiceNow (NOW) at 11.85%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

61.90%

ADBE: 61.90%
Max: 53.85%
Q3: 17.90%
Median: 6.59%
Q1: -9.59%
Min: -50.52%

NOW

Software & Services industry group

11.85%

Max: 53.85%
Q3: 17.90%
NOW: 11.85%
Median: 6.59%
Q1: -9.59%
Min: -50.52%

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their ROE against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Adobe (ADBE) at 28.05% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of ServiceNow (NOW) at 9.36%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

28.05%

Max: 41.17%
ADBE: 28.05%
Q3: 15.28%
Median: 4.63%
Q1: -5.42%
Min: -33.17%

NOW

Software & Services industry group

9.36%

Max: 41.17%
Q3: 15.28%
NOW: 9.36%
Median: 4.63%
Q1: -5.42%
Min: -33.17%

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their net margin against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Adobe (ADBE) at 34.82% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of ServiceNow (NOW) at 17.39%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

34.82%

Max: 46.89%
ADBE: 34.82%
Q3: 17.64%
Median: 8.73%
Q1: -2.13%
Min: -30.45%

NOW

Software & Services industry group

17.39%

Max: 46.89%
Q3: 17.64%
NOW: 17.39%
Median: 8.73%
Q1: -2.13%
Min: -30.45%

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their operating margin against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
ROE (TTM)	61.90%	11.85%
ROA (TTM)	20.08%	4.59%
Net Margin (TTM)	28.05%	9.36%
Operating Margin (TTM)	34.82%	17.39%
Gross Margin (TTM)	89.25%	73.08%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Adobe (ADBE) at 10.53% and ServiceNow (NOW) at 20.88% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Both Adobe (ADBE) at 35.11% and ServiceNow (NOW) at 22.08% land near their industries' usual EPS growth ranges, so bottom-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Revenue Growth (YoY)	10.53%	20.88%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	10.52%	22.38%
EPS Growth (YoY)	35.11%	22.08%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	18.25%	73.46%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Both Adobe (ADBE) at 0.77 and ServiceNow (NOW) at 0.72 run current ratio in the tighter-liquidity quartile of industry peers, leaving thinner cushions against current liabilities than typical competitors.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

0.77

Max: 5.11
Q3: 2.77
Median: 1.67
Q1: 1.01
ADBE: 0.77
Min: 0.03

NOW

Software & Services industry group

0.72

Max: 5.11
Q3: 2.77
Median: 1.67
Q1: 1.01
NOW: 0.72
Min: 0.03

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their current ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Adobe (ADBE) at 0.58 and ServiceNow (NOW) at 0.64 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

0.58

Max: 2.52
Q3: 1.13
ADBE: 0.58
Median: 0.40
Q1: 0.07
Min: 0.00

NOW

Software & Services industry group

0.64

Max: 2.52
Q3: 1.13
NOW: 0.64
Median: 0.40
Q1: 0.07
Min: 0.00

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Current Ratio (MRQ)	0.77	0.72
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.58	0.64
Net Debt / EBITDA	0.12	1.18

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Neither Adobe (ADBE) nor ServiceNow (NOW) pays a dividend this period — they may reinvest, use buybacks, or simply not return cash through dividends.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

0.00%

ADBE: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NOW

Software & Services industry group

0.00%

NOW: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Neither Adobe (ADBE) nor ServiceNow (NOW) pays a dividend this period — they may reinvest, use buybacks, or simply not return cash through dividends.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

0.00%

ADBE: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NOW

Software & Services industry group

0.00%

NOW: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.00%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	0.00%	0.00%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Adobe (ADBE) at 13.36 sits in the cheaper P/E ratio quartile, while ServiceNow (NOW) at 73.36 sits in the richer quartile — a clear split in what investors pay for each dollar of trailing earnings.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

13.36

Max: 112.94
Q3: 60.32
Median: 32.91
Q1: 18.77
ADBE: 13.36
Min: 6.69

NOW

Software & Services industry group

73.36

Max: 112.94
NOW: 73.36
Q3: 60.32
Median: 32.91
Q1: 18.77
Min: 6.69

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

On P/S ratio, both Adobe (ADBE) at 3.59 and ServiceNow (NOW) at 6.86 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

3.59

Max: 17.91
Q3: 8.78
Median: 4.25
ADBE: 3.59
Q1: 2.23
Min: 0.02

NOW

Software & Services industry group

6.86

Max: 17.91
Q3: 8.78
NOW: 6.86
Median: 4.25
Q1: 2.23
Min: 0.02

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

On P/B ratio, both Adobe (ADBE) at 7.95 and ServiceNow (NOW) at 8.08 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

ADBE

Software & Services industry group

7.95

Max: 16.63
Q3: 8.50
ADBE: 7.95
Median: 4.30
Q1: 1.92
Min: -3.90

NOW

Software & Services industry group

8.08

Max: 16.63
Q3: 8.50
NOW: 8.08
Median: 4.30
Q1: 1.92
Min: -3.90

Adobe (ADBE) vs. ServiceNow (NOW): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Software & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Adobe (ADBE) and ServiceNow (NOW)
Metric	ADBE	NOW
P/E Ratio (TTM)	13.36	73.36
P/S Ratio (TTM)	3.59	6.86
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	7.95	8.08
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	10.03%	5.44%