ServiceNow shares rise as subscriptions lead strong earnings results
ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) shares rose 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday as investors showed their enthusiasm for the cloud-based business-service technology company's stronger-than-expected first-quarter results.
For the quarter ending March 31, ServiceNow (NOW) reported a profit, excluding one-time items, of $2.37 a share, on total revenue of $2.14B, compared to analysts' forecasts for a profit of $2.04 a share on $2.09B in sales. During the same period a year ago, ServiceNow (NOW) earned $1.73 a share, on revenue of $1.72B.
"We have become the platform for end-to-end digital transformation," said ServiceNow (NOW) Chief Executive Bill McDermott, in an interview with Seeking Alpha. "The numbers speak for themselves, and the results show us standing in a class of one." 
One of the highlights of the quarter was ServiceNow (NOW) reporting $2.02B in revenue from subscriptions, a 24% increase from a year ago. It was also the first time ServiceNow (NOW) surpassed $2 billion in both total sales and subscription revenue in a quarter.
McDermott said ServiceNow (NOW) is benefitting from a change in the mindset of CEOs who are "directly getting involved in the [technology] platform decisions for their companies."
ServiceNow (NOW) also said that for its fiscal second quarter, it expects subscription revenue to be between $2.04B and $2.05B. The company also raised its full-year subscription revenue forecast to a range of $8.47B to $8.52B.
Along with its earnings results, ServiceNow (NOW) also named Deborah Black, Netflix (NFLX) vice president of engineering, to its board of directors.
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