Software Stocks Plummet Amid AI Fears: $10 Billion Lost in a Day for U.S. Workflow Leader

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) shares plunged 6.97% to close at $109.77 on the New York Stock Exchange on the 3rd. Trading volume exceeded 19.32 million shares, erasing roughly $7.48 billion in market capitalization (about ₩10 trillion) in a single day, bringing the company’s total market value to approximately $114.8 billion (around ₩155 trillion).

The sell-off stemmed directly from a broad “basket” liquidation of software and big-tech stocks, as investors grew fearful that generative AI could encroach on traditional software businesses. The entire information-technology sector showed weakness. Even after ServiceNow reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on January 28 and announced an additional $5 billion share-buyback program, doubts about whether AI investments would translate into accelerated growth had already driven the stock down by nearly double digits since the earnings release.

ServiceNow is a leading SaaS provider of cloud-based IT service management and workflow automation, competing with the likes of Salesforce and Workday in the enterprise market. Recently, the company has deeply integrated external generative-AI models—such as Anthropic’s “Claude”—into its platform and is promoting its own “Now Assist” AI. By automatically generating code and workflows from natural-language inputs, ServiceNow aims to capture a leading position in the enterprise AI agent market.