London, Feb 27, 2026, 08:04 GMT — Regular session
- LSEG climbed roughly 0.5% at the open in London, with Elliott backing the company’s buyback plan.
- The activist investor described the steps as a “positive first step” but pushed for additional measures.
- LSEG’s sharper margin targets and its AI pitch are under scrutiny as investors look for signs these moves might calm nerves following February’s jolt.
Shares of London Stock Exchange Group ticked up 0.5% to 8,544 pence as of 0804 GMT on Friday, adding to the recent advance. Activist investor Elliott has now backed the group’s fresh buyback initiative.
Shares soared 9% on Thursday—the steepest daily gain since March 2022—after LSEG rolled out another 3 billion pounds ($4.0 billion) in buybacks and detailed new plans to boost margins. Investors took the move as a direct answer to growing pressure.
Why it matters now: LSEG is feeling the heat on multiple fronts. Investors worry that the rise of artificial intelligence might erode demand for segments of its data business. With Elliott stepping in, management faces sharper scrutiny on everything from targets to costs and portfolio decisions.
Elliott, in a Friday statement, called LSEG’s recent steps a “positive first step,” but made it clear the firm believes “opportunity for further value-enhancing actions” remains. The activist described its position as a significant stake. Prnewswire
LSEG reported a 7.1% climb in 2025 total income excluding recoveries, measured on an organic, constant-currency basis. The group’s annualised subscription value (ASV), which gauges recurring subscription run-rate, advanced 5.9% as of December 2025. Looking ahead, LSEG is projecting organic income growth of 6.5% to 7.5% for 2026 and expects its constant-currency EBITDA margin to improve by 80 to 100 basis points, or 0.8 to 1.0 percentage points.
The shares finished Thursday at 8,500 pence, gaining 9.1% for the session, based on delayed pricing data.
Big shareholders liked the increased cash payout, though the mood wasn’t all positive. “We were definitely keen for them to do a chunky buyback,” said Frederick Kerr-Smiley, analyst at Ninety One. Stephen Yiu at Blue Whale Growth Fund put it bluntly: “We welcome the buyback but you don’t invest in LSEG because you hope for buybacks and a dividend. We want growth.” Reuters
Despite the rally this week, LSEG is still working to dig itself out of a lengthy slump. According to Reuters, as of Wednesday, shares were still off roughly 30% from a year earlier. Investors have been uneasy about the risk of AI upending key parts of its business and whether the company can close the margin gap with competitors.
Deutsche Boerse and Nasdaq keep cropping up in investor chatter—not due to perfect business alignment, but because LSEG’s valuation and margin lag stand out more sharply these days, especially as worries about growth start to bite.
There’s a risk here: should subscription growth stall again, or if AI worries flare up, a buyback might come off as a temporary patch instead of a real solution. Elliott, for its part, has made clear it’s looking for more than just tweaks to the balance sheet.
Now, focus shifts to whether management can actually sustain ASV growth all the way through 2026—and whether Elliott steps up its pressure on the portfolio in the weeks ahead. Before that, LSEG’s dividend calendar comes into play: the final dividend goes ex-dividend April 16, 2026, and, if shareholders sign off, payment lands May 20, 2026.
