Rightmove’s buyback hit the market price after shares fell 45%. July tests are ahead.
- Rightmove gained 0.71% Monday as the FTSE 250 edged lower. The company also repurchased 150,000 shares at close to market price.
- The shares remain down roughly 45% from the 52-week high, as investors continue to cut back the growth premium on the property portal.
- Consensus points to 14.5x 2026 underlying EPS at Monday’s close, dropping to 11.8x on 2028 earnings if forecasts stay.
- Rightmove’s next house price index lands July 20. Half-year results will follow on July 31.
Rightmove plc (LON:RMV) shares gained Monday. The company was in the market too, with its buyback desk paying about the going rate for shares, even though the stock remains well below last year’s highs.
Rightmove traded up 3.20 pence, or 0.71%, quoted at a 453.90p sell and 454.30p buy price. The FTSE 250 slipped 0.15%, per Hargreaves Lansdown data. Reuters said the mid-cap index closed down 0.2%.
The company said it bought 150,000 shares at a volume-weighted average price of 453.391p with UBS AG London Branch handling the deal. That amounts to about £680,000 of shares, around 2.1% of the 6.999 million shares recorded as Monday’s volume on Hargreaves Lansdown. The shares are set to be cancelled. After this, there will be 744,809,917 ordinary shares remaining outside treasury.
| Monday snapshot | Data | Investor read |
|---|---|---|
| Share move | +0.71% | Outperformed FTSE 250, which fell |
| Buyback | 150,000 shares | Roughly 2.1% of Monday’s trading volume |
| Average buyback price | 453.391p | Close to Monday’s quoted price |
| Market cap | £3.37 billion | Trades near 10.9x 2026E underlying operating profit |
| 52-week range | 391.40p–827.00p | Now sits about 45% off the year’s high |
That’s important because Rightmove’s de-rating now isn’t just tied to this week’s housing numbers. The shares sit at 452.60p, putting them about 15.6% up from the 52-week low but still 45.3% under the 827p high listed by Hargreaves Lansdown. What’s left for the stock is the question of whether buybacks and EPS growth are enough to balance out slower profit growth as tech spending rises.
Analysts expect 2026 revenue of £460.9 million and underlying operating profit of £307.9 million, according to a consensus compiled by the company and dated April 9. The same consensus puts 2028 revenue at £544.9 million and operating profit at £354.1 million, with the margin seen edging down from 66.83% to 64.99%. Rightmove says these are analysts’ projections and not its own guidance.
| Forecast year | Revenue mean | Underlying operating profit mean | Underlying margin | Underlying EPS | Implied P/E at 452.60p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026E | £460.9 mln | £307.9 mln | 66.83% | 31.11p | 14.5x |
| 2027E | £500.2 mln | £327.9 mln | 65.55% | 34.34p | 13.2x |
| 2028E | £544.9 mln | £354.1 mln | 64.99% | 38.28p | 11.8x |
Housing data for the model is mixed. Rightmove said average asking prices for new listings slipped 0.6% to £376,191 in June, the sharpest June decline in 14 years. Buyer demand dropped 10% from May last year, and sales agreed fell 6%.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said, “It’s unusual to see a price fall of this size in June.” She linked the drop to high stock on the market, the timing of the May bank holiday and a slower start to summer. Rightmove
Mortgage rates are helping the bull argument. Rightmove said the average two-year fixed rate dropped to 5.07% from 5.18% last month. That cut the average monthly payment by around £30. “Relatively small reductions can make a difference to buyers’ budgets,” said Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert. Rightmove
Rightmove argues that stronger product pricing and new tools will outweigh the housing cycle’s impact. Back in May, the group stuck with its 2026 outlook, calling for 8%–10% revenue growth, underlying operating profit growth of 3%–5%, and at least 5% underlying EPS growth. It reported over 2,500 tech releases in the first four months of the year, up more than 20% from a year ago, and said it has increased its AI initiatives to 43 compared with 31 at the end of 2025.
Chief Executive Johan Svanstrom said trading is “in line with expectations” and Rightmove is “innovating across our platform faster than ever before.” Reuters said in May that core membership growth was tracking with the company’s forecast for about 1% growth this year, as estate agency gains offset weaker new homes. DirectorsTalk Interviews
Rightmove is facing an index shakeup. FTSE Russell said on June 3 that the company will drop out of the FTSE 100 and move to the FTSE 250. That switch starts at the open on June 22. The next data points come soon. Rightmove will post its house price index on July 20. The half-year 2026 results are set for July 31.
