London, March 9, 2026, 23:49 GMT
Rightmove bought back 210,000 shares on Monday under its latest repurchase programme, but the UK property portal still ended the day lower, with the stock down 2.7% at 453 pence. The company said the shares were bought at an average 453.416 pence and will be cancelled, taking shares in issue to 761.27 million. 1
That matters because Rightmove is still trying to repair sentiment after a sharp re-rating in recent months, when investors balked at higher spending on artificial intelligence and other product upgrades. Monday’s close left the stock about 45% below its 52-week high, and the market is still asking when heavier investment starts to show up in growth. 2
There was one reprieve last week. FTSE Russell confirmed Rightmove would remain in the FTSE 100, even though an indicative review in February had put it among possible deletions; EasyJet and Hikma Pharmaceuticals were the names ultimately removed. 3
In full-year results released on Feb. 27, Rightmove said 2025 revenue and underlying operating profit, a company measure that strips out some items, both rose 9%. It kept its 2026 revenue growth forecast at 8% to 10%, but said operating profit growth would slow to 3% to 5% as margins dip to 67% during a heavier investment phase. 4
Chief Executive Johan Svanstrom said Rightmove had “entered 2026 with confidence in our performance,” while the company pointed to 31 live AI initiatives across the business, including conversational search and an app submission to ChatGPT. It also said more than 85% of traffic was direct or organic, a sign of the brand strength it is leaning on as search habits shift. 5
RBC Capital Markets took a supportive view, saying Rightmove was more likely to be an “AI winner than loser”. The broker said more than 90% of the company’s data was proprietary and called the long-term case “compelling”, even as it acknowledged margins were likely to come under pressure in the near term. 6
Peel Hunt was similarly upbeat on the core business. Analyst Jessica Pok said there was “no evidence of any impact on the business” from broader AI fears, and said the shares were trading at their lowest earnings multiple in a decade after in-line 2025 numbers and a larger-than-expected 90 million pound buyback. 7
Not everyone is relaxed. AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said last week’s results had helped “calm investors’ nerves”, but he added that Rightmove was still under pressure to justify its AI spend and show how it would fight off competition from generative AI platforms. 8
The company is defending that position in a market that also includes Zoopla and OnTheMarket. In its latest investor presentation, Rightmove benchmarked itself against those two portals and said six in 10 users were exclusive to Rightmove in 2025, underlining why management sees its lead as hard to break. 9
The risk is that the housing backdrop turns less helpful just as costs rise. Reuters reported on Friday that UK mortgage rates had started edging higher again as oil-driven inflation fears cut expectations for Bank of England rate cuts, while Rightmove said new-homes developments in the market remained at low historic levels. 10
Broader market conditions did not help on Monday. The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% and the FTSE 250 lost 1.8% as oil prices jumped and traders reversed earlier bets on UK rate cuts, another reminder that Rightmove’s next leg up may depend as much on the macro picture as on its own product push. 11
