LONDON, July 4, 2026, 16:05 BST
- RELX PLC (LON:REL) finished Friday at 2,334p, off 0.8%. London markets were closed Saturday.
- RELX’s new £100 million buyback, set for July, will take out about 0.24% of voting rights based on Friday’s share price.
- RELX fell 40.1% in the past year and now trades at 20.5 times trailing earnings, under its five-year median of 30.3.
RELX PLC (LON:REL) closed at 2,334p on Friday, slipping 0.8%. The stock fell 1.2% for the week as it kept losing ground ahead of its July 23 half-year earnings. London trading was closed Saturday. The London Stock Exchange trades from 0800 to 1630 BST Monday through Friday.
The main news for investors is the buyback. RELX said on June 29 it will kick off a £100 million non-discretionary buyback from July 1 to July 21, right after it wrapped up a £200 million buyback on June 26. Both are part of the company’s £2.25 billion buyback target for 2026.
RELX closed at 2,334p on Friday. At that price, the July tranche would pick up about 4.3 million shares, equal to 0.24% of RELX’s 1.755 billion voting rights as of June 30. The full £2.25 billion buyback could buy 96.4 million shares at that level, or roughly 5.5% of voting rights.
This is important since the buyback can give some lift to per-share earnings over time, but it won’t do enough on its own to halt a sliding multiple. RELX said it had bought 69.19 million shares between Jan. 2 and June 26, according to its weekly buyback update.
Investing.com historical data shows how the tape looked this week:
| Date | Close | Daily move | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 29 | 2,360p | fell 0.13% | 2.88 mln |
| June 30 | 2,366p | up 0.25% | 2.76 mln |
| July 1 | 2,360p | dropped 0.25% | 6.22 mln |
| July 2 | 2,353p | down 0.30% | 7.03 mln |
| July 3 | 2,334p | lost 0.81% | 2.45 mln |
FTSE Russell figures show the selloff stretches further than just a rough week. RELX dropped 22.7% for the year as of July 3 and is down 40.1% in the past 52 weeks. Looking at the FTSE 350, RELX lagged by almost 60 percentage points over that same period.
| Measure to July 3 | RELX | RELX vs FTSE 350 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week | -1.23% | -2.86 pts |
| 4 weeks | -10.78% | -13.68 pts |
| Year to date | -22.72% | -29.93 pts |
| 52 weeks | -40.14% | -59.75 pts |
Valuation has shifted as well. RELX changed hands at 20.5 times trailing earnings, down from its five-year median of 30.3 times. The price-to-sales multiple was at 4.5 times, lower than the five-year median of 6.1 times. Free-cash-flow yield ticked up to 2.67%, above the five-year median of 1.85%.
| Valuation measure | Current | Five-year median |
|---|---|---|
| Price / EPS | 20.5x | 30.3x |
| Price / sales | 4.5x | 6.1x |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.67% | 1.85% |
| Dividend yield | 2.89% | 2.01% |
| EV / EBITDA | 14.3x | 21.1x |
RELX kept its operating message unchanged. In its April trading update, it said all four business areas started the year well and kept guidance for strong underlying revenue, adjusted operating profit, and adjusted EPS growth at constant currencies. RELX also said its Legal division delivered double-digit growth in Law Firms & Corporate Legal, driven by AI-enabled research and analytics products such as Lexis+ with Protégé.
RELX CEO Erik Engstrom said in February that “the continued evolution of artificial intelligence” is helping the company add value for customers. The comments came after RELX posted 2025 revenue of £9.59 billion, adjusted operating profit of £3.34 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of 128.5p. Relx
Investors are worried AI could eat into RELX’s legal and research profits, even as the company claims AI is making their products better. Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of LexisNexis’s global legal unit, told Business Insider its legal data “cannot be replicated” and stressed that in legal work, being “probably” right isn’t enough: “You can’t be ‘probably’ right.” Business Insider
Sell-side is still mostly positive. Investor Chronicle says 15 analysts have a 12-month median target of 3,140p, roughly 35% higher than Friday’s close. The highest analyst target is 5,300p, the lowest is 2,870p.
July 23 results now stand as a clearer test than the buyback. If Legal or Risk growth comes in soft, the share repurchase may end up looking defensive. Strong numbers would turn focus to the lower earnings multiple and the 5.5% share-cut the yearlong buyback means at Friday’s price.
