LONDON, March 27, 2026, 18:10 GMT
RELX edged down 0.21% to 2,393 pence at 14:23 GMT on Friday, sticking close to the 2,400 pence mark. The data and analytics firm, listed in London, has filed to list 72,000 new ordinary shares for its employee share purchase plan. Trading is set to begin on March 30.
A brief filing hit a stock already struggling to find its footing. RELX kicked off a £350 million buyback on Monday, set to run through April 22, after wrapping up a £450 million round just last week. Investors, though, aren’t budging on their distinctions between perceived AI winners and those they see as at risk.
Backing up those returns, management delivered the numbers: RELX posted 2025 revenue at £9.59 billion, adjusted operating profit came in at £3.34 billion, and adjusted earnings per share jumped 10% (excluding currency movements). The board put forward a 67.5 pence full-year dividend.
Company executives are adamant that AI will boost growth, not undermine it. Chief Financial Officer Nick Luff told Reuters that RELX’s rolling data updates and proprietary algorithms deliver “the right judgments” for professional clients. The company expects embedded AI to underpin growth “for many years to come.” Reuters
Convincing the market has been a tougher job. Back in early February, RELX, Wolters Kluwer, and Thomson Reuters all took a hit—shares tumbling after Anthropic rolled out fresh automation tools aimed at legal and data work. “Sometimes the market just shoots first and asks questions later,” said Mike Archibald, portfolio manager at AGF Investments. Schroders analyst Jonathan McMullan noted the change put pressure on stalwarts like RELX and eroded the sector’s “visibility premium.” Reuters
Pressure stuck around. On Feb. 6, RELX shares slipped 4.6%, Reuters noted, putting the stock on track for its sharpest weekly slide since 2020 as traders reconsidered if software and data firms would end up benefiting from AI—or get hurt by it.
The latest London Stock Exchange factsheet, dated March 24, listed the shares at £24.30—down nearly 41% from the 52-week high of £41.29, and trading under both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, those basic trend indicators used by traders tracking momentum.
Markets faced a headwind. The FTSE 100 fell another 0.05% Friday, adding to Thursday’s 1.3% drop, with concerns over Middle East tensions making investors wary.
But cash returns aren’t closing the main argument. Back in early February, Reuters noted that software and services stocks lost roughly $830 billion in market value over just six sessions as investors wondered if fresh AI technologies could upend the sector entirely. James St. Aubin at Ocean Park Asset Management summed up the rout as “an awakening to the disruptive power of AI.” Reuters
Investors looking ahead will note RELX has its annual general meeting on April 23, with results slated for July 23. These are the main corporate dates coming up.
