London, May 18, 2026, 13:10 (BST)
RELX PLC gained in London on Monday, extending Friday’s rally as investors continued to weigh its AI offering while competition from legal tech remains a risk. Late data showed RELX at 2,458 pence, up 1.44%. The stock is still down 19.1% for the year and off 40.5% over 12 months, while the FTSE 100 was last up about 0.5%.
RELX isn’t just moving with a slow Monday market. The question now is whether AI tools end up helping its LexisNexis, Elsevier, and risk-analytics units, or if they hurt the paid workflow business that the stock depends on. In February, Reuters said RELX, Thomson Reuters, and Wolters Kluwer took a hit from AI worries after Anthropic rolled out legal and workflow plug-ins.
RELX went back to that question in a May investor update out Friday, describing the company as focused on information-based analytics and decision tools instead of being an old publisher. Management stuck to its push on higher-growth tools, organic growth, and targeted deals. RELX said it was still keeping underlying cost growth below underlying revenue growth. “Underlying” removes currency swings and portfolio changes to show like-for-like results. MarketScreener
RELX kept its message steady in the April trading update. The company stuck to its forecast for another year of strong underlying revenue and adjusted operating profit growth. RELX also said its Legal unit is seeing gains from the take-up of Lexis+ with Protégé, describing the agentic legal assistant as software that runs through steps of a task instead of just answering a single prompt.
RELX’s CFO Nick Luff said in February that automation isn’t the full picture, telling Reuters the company’s updated data and content sets it apart. Luff said it’s about using proprietary algorithms to make “right judgments” for professional users. Reuters
Capital returns help support the shares. RELX started a £350 million buyback on April 23, running to May 22. That followed another £350 million buyback that wrapped up April 22. Both are part of its planned £2.25 billion in repurchases for 2026. Shares repurchased will go into treasury, so the company keeps them off the open market.
Competition is still stiff. On May 12, Anthropic rolled out more Claude tools for lawyers through links with Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw and CoCounsel, as well as Harvey, Box, Everlaw, and DocuSign. Anthropic associate general counsel Mark Pike told Reuters there’s been an “incredible uptick” in AI adoption across the legal industry. Reuters
Thomson Reuters is pushing CoCounsel Legal further into Claude instead of keeping it separate, as the company tries to link its legal tech with more general AI tools. Joel Hron, the firm’s tech chief, said they are “actively building integrations” that tie general-purpose AI to the legal workplace. Thomson Reuters also called CoCounsel “fiduciary-grade,” saying it’s made for traceable and trusted legal work. Thomson Reuters
AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth called RELX’s results a “pivotal moment” as worries grew about Anthropic’s legal AI tool eating the company’s lunch. Coatsworth said RELX painted AI as “an opportunity, not a threat,” but some investors were still wary of third-party shakeups. Halifax Investments
RELX could be too slow or too expensive with its defence, or just not enough for shareholders, analysts say. Morgan Stanley last week dropped RELX to Equal Weight from Overweight and trimmed its price target to 2,970 pence from 3,320 pence. The Fly said the bank pointed to valuation concerns and tough competition from workflow startups. If those new tools win over legal clients at lower prices, RELX may see Legal growth stall and its valuation come under more pressure.
Investors are focused on whether the buyback and the presentation in May can help steady the shares ahead of the next earnings. RELX has July 23 as the date for first-half results to June 30. A nine-month trading update is set for Oct. 22.
