Reviewing Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) and ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW)

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) and Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ServiceNow and Upland Software”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ServiceNow	$14.73 billion	9.68	$1.75 billion	$1.60	86.18
Upland Software	$216.88 million	0.05	-$38.90 million	($14.43)	-0.25

ServiceNow has higher revenue and earnings than Upland Software. Upland Software is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ServiceNow, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for ServiceNow and Upland Software, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ServiceNow	2	4	35	1	2.83
Upland Software	1	0	2	0	2.33

ServiceNow presently has a consensus price target of $146.46, indicating a potential upside of 6.22%. Upland Software has a consensus price target of $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 246.26%. Given Upland Software’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Upland Software is more favorable than ServiceNow.

Profitability

This table compares ServiceNow and Upland Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ServiceNow	11.34%	16.45%	7.68%
Upland Software	-18.50%	-46.06%	6.92%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.2% of ServiceNow shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.8% of Upland Software shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of ServiceNow shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.6% of Upland Software shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

ServiceNow has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upland Software has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ServiceNow beats Upland Software on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow, Inc. provides end to-end intelligent workflow automation platform solutions for digital businesses in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Now platform for end-to-end digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, process mining, performance analytics, and collaboration and development tools. It also provides asset management, cloud observability, integrated risk management; information technology (IT) service management applications; IT service management product suite for enterprise's employees, customers, and partners; strategic portfolio management product suite; IT operations management product that connects a customer's physical and cloud-based IT infrastructure; IT asset management; and security operations that connects with internal and third party. In addition, the company offers integrated risk management product to manage risk and resilience; environmental, social and governance management product; human resources, legal, and workplace service delivery products; customer service management product; and field service management applications. Further, the company provides app engine product; automation engine; platform privacy and security product; and source-to-pay operations. It serves to government, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, IT services, technology, oil and gas, education, and consumer products through service providers and resale partners. The company was formerly known as Service-now.com and changed its name to ServiceNow, Inc. in May 2012. ServiceNow, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

About Upland Software

Upland Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based software applications under the Upland brand name in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It offers software applications that enable organizations to plan, manage and execute projects, and work in the areas of marketing, sales, contact center, knowledge management, project management, information technology, business operations, human resources, and legal. The company also provides professional services, such as implementation, data extraction, integration and configuration, and training services, as well as customer support services. It serves corporations, government agencies, and small and medium-sized businesses in the financial, consulting, technology, manufacturing, media, telecommunication, insurance, non-profit healthcare, life sciences, retail, and hospitality sectors. The company was formerly known as Silverback Enterprise Group, Inc. and changed its name to Upland Software, Inc. in November 2013. Upland Software, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.