Covered Call Position Established in ServiceNow Inc.

Today a short-term Covered Call position in ServiceNow Inc. (NOW) was established when one hundred shares were purchased at $148.32 and one January 16th, 2026 Call option was sold at $5.20 per share at the $145.00 strike price.  The buy/write net debit limit order at $143.12 was executed, so the time value was $1.88 per share [$5.20 Call option premium - ($148.32 stock purchase price - $145.00 strike price)].  As I prefer, ServiceNow's next quarterly earnings report on January 28th, 2026 is after the January 16th, 2026 options expiration date.  An in-the-money Covered Call position was established with a 66.7% probability of assignment on the options expiration date. 

ServiceNow Inc. is an enterprise software company that provides a cloud-based platform to automate and manage digital workflows, helping organizations streamline processes across IT, HR, customer service, security, and other business functions. Its AI-powered Now platform connects people, data, and workflows to reduce manual work, improve efficiency, and enable digital transformation at scale. ServiceNow’s solutions are widely used by large enterprises globally to break down silos and enable work to flow more smoothly across departments. ServiceNow’s success has been rapid and organic. They offer high-end enterprise-grade solutions and boasts elite-level customer retention of 98%. ServiceNow focuses on the largest enterprises worldwide and these customers continue to renew for larger contracts containing more products. Additionally, customers are re-upping for more than one solution, as more than 75% of customers are multiproduct purchasers, which is driving deal sizes higher.

ServiceNow passed all criteria in my Super Growers stock screener which is shown below.  Furthermore, the average target price of the 40 analysts currently covering the company is +51.7% above today's stock purchase price and it is Buy rated by all four third-party stock research services provided by my broker (Schwab) -- CFRA, Morningstar, Argus, and LSEG.

 As detailed below, a potential return-on-investment result is +1.3% absolute return-on-investment (equivalent to +47.8% annualized return-on-investment over the next 10 days) if the stock is assigned on the January 16th, 2026 options expiration date.

ServiceNow Inc. (NOW) -- New Covered Call Position
The simultaneous buy/write transaction today was as follows:
1/6/2026 Bought 100 ServiceNow Inc. shares @ $148.32
1/6/2026 Sold 1 ServiceNow 1/16/2026 $145.00 Call option @ $5.20 per share
Note: the Implied Volatility of this Call option was 31.4 when this transaction was executed.  As I prefer, this value exceeds that of the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) which is currently at 15.0.

A possible overall performance result (including commissions) for this ServiceNow Covered Call position if assigned on the options expiration date is as follows:
Covered Call Cost Basis: $14,312.67
= ($148.32 - $5.20) * 100 shares + $.67 commission

Net Profit Components:
(a) Option Income: +$519.33
= ($5.20 * 100 shares) - $.67 commissions
(b) Dividend Income $0.00
(c) Capital Appreciation (If ServiceNow shares assigned at $145.00 strike price at options expiration): -$332.00
+($145.00 strike price - $148.32 stock purchase price) * 100 shares

Total Net Profit (If ServiceNow shares assigned at the $145.00 strike price at the 1/16/2026 expiration): +$187.33

= (+$519.33 Call option income + $0.00 dividend income - $332.00 capital appreciation)

Absolute Return-on-Investment (If ServiceNow shares assigned at $145.00 strike price on Jan. 16th, 2026 options expiration date): +1.3%

= +$187.33/$14,312.67

Annualized Return-on-Investment (If ServiceNow's stock is assigned at $145.00 at the 1/16/2026 options expiration date): +47.8%

= (+$187.33/$14,312.67) * (365/10 days)