ServiceNow Inc Q3 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Karl Emil Keirstead - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst : Maybe I'll direct this one to Gina. Gina, on the margin improvement trajectory, it seems like there's a band we should be thinking about. Maybe at the low end, the pre-COVID rate at which ServiceNow was improving margins at about 100 basis points a year, and perhaps at the high end, the roughly 300 basis points that you're going to put up in 2020, which is probably somewhat unsustainable. I wanted to ask whether your comments about upticking investments was intended to perhaps push us to one end of that spectrum. I'm not asking for a firm guidance. I know that will probably come later. But just directionally, maybe how this experience with COVID and the cost structure has changed, if at all, your view of ServiceNow as a margin improvement story? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 28, 2020 / 9:00PM, NOW.N - Q3 2020 ServiceNow Inc Earnings Call

Question: Karl Emil Keirstead - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. That's helpful. And if I could ask a follow-up to Bill. Bill, it's now been pretty well a year since you were announced as new CEO of ServiceNow. Congrats, by the way, on that anniversary. And I'm just wondering, now that you're getting comfortable in the seat, the execution has been strong, perhaps it's time that M&A becomes a bigger lever to move ServiceNow in the direction you'd like. I'd love your thoughts on that.