RELX Shares Back in Focus Ahead of April Update as AI Bet, Buyback Face Fresh Test

RELX Shares Back in Focus Ahead of April Update as AI Bet, Buyback Face Fresh Test

April 6, 2026

LONDON, April 6, 2026, 15:21 BST.

RELX’s U.S.-listed ADRs ticked 0.3% higher to $33.71 on Monday. Traders are eyeing the April 23 trading update and annual meeting, which will be the next official word on 2026 trading since the full-year numbers landed in February.

This is significant, as the stock still hasn’t recovered from the AI jitters back in February. On Feb. 6, Reuters noted RELX shares were under pressure, with AI concerns dominating. Over at the Wall Street Journal, the talk was about whether the company could hold its ground against legal AI startups.

RELX, in its April investor update, pointed to continued momentum across the business and projected another solid year for revenue and adjusted operating profit growth. The company also sees strong earnings-per-share growth at constant currency, which excludes exchange-rate swings. Its presentation listed 2025 revenue at 9.6 billion pounds and adjusted operating profit at 3.3 billion pounds.

Buybacks are in the mix as well. RELX kicked off a 350 million pound share repurchase on March 23, set to run until April 22, right after wrapping up a 450 million pound round. Both buyback tranches fall under the company’s broader 2.25 billion pound plan running through 2026.

According to a March 30 filing, the group picked up 3.43 million shares over the period from March 23 through March 27, bringing the total repurchased since Jan. 2 to 31.06 million. RELX said the shares are headed for treasury.

The biggest test for that pitch: legal software. RELX’s LexisNexis division is introducing Lexis+ with Protégé, aiming straight at those demands. “Integrated legal AI work environments”—that’s what lawyers want now, according to Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO for global legal at LexisNexis Legal & Professional. The new platform extends further into drafting, review, analysis and citation checking. LexisNexis

Back in February, Chief Financial Officer Nick Luff pointed to RELX’s strength: a steady stream of updated data and its own proprietary algorithms. Those tools, he told Reuters, provide “the right judgments, the right inferences, and the right interpretations” for professionals facing high-stakes decisions. Reuters

The pressure isn’t letting up. Back in February, Reuters flagged that Anthropic’s new tools had stoked worries about AI encroaching on the “application layer”—that’s the part of the stack where users operate. The news rattled shares of RELX, Wolters Kluwer, Thomson Reuters, and others. Schroders analyst Jonathan McMullan described it as a “deepening structural debate” facing the sector’s established players. Reuters

For RELX, the risk is clear—investors could demand stronger evidence that fresh AI offerings are outpacing the drag from tougher pricing pressure. “More narrow today,” is how James St. Aubin at Ocean Park Asset Management sized up the sector’s shrinking moat as AI rivals pile in. Reuters

Marcin Frąckiewicz

Marcin Frąckiewicz is the CEO of TS2 Space and a longtime technology entrepreneur focused on telecommunications, satellite communications and digital innovation. A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), he writes about space technology, artificial intelligence and publicly traded technology companies. His analysis covers major market trends, emerging technologies and the businesses shaping the future of the global economy.

Stock Market Today

  • Oil Hoarding Seen as Biggest Market Threat; Energy Stocks Eyed for Gains
    July 14, 2026, 11:25 PM EDT. Oil hoarding is back in focus as a top market risk with countries moving to build reserves into higher prices. The 1970s are the reference point: despite textbook economics expecting demand to drop on price surges, back then oil demand actually jumped as nations stockpiled, throwing supply and demand out of sync and sending assets through the roof-oil climbed more than 1,800%, gold over 2,000%. Right now, oil and gas names are just 3.2% of the S&P 500, which is near the bottom end of the historical share. Global upstream spending is off by 35% since 2015, not enough to boost new output. That puts service stocks-from drilling to infrastructure-in line to benefit again, as seen during the 1970s upcycle. Australian mining service firms shifting into energy could also gain if demand rises for production and export buildout.