ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) shares rose more than 3% on Thursday after the company reported its Q4 results, with EPS of $2.28 coming in better than the Street estimate of $2.02. Revenue was $2.03 billion, beating the Street estimate of $1.94 billion.

The company’s 2023 subscription revenue guidance of $8.44-$8.5 billion also came in above expectations.

According to the analysts at Deutsche Bank, the company overdelivered on its own internal Net New ACV (NNACV) expectations, which is the purest of leading metrics that very importantly drive future revenue.

Skeptics will focus on having to take the company at its word on a seldom disclosed metric that lacks context (i.e. trended compares) though the accompanying fact pattern remains supportive, including strong 125% net expansion, 30% year-over-year growth in new logo ACV, and consistent 85% of ACV coming from the installed base. This is in addition to solid guidance, which is in part driven by the quarter's strong NNACV.