London, Feb 13, 2026, 07:53 GMT — Premarket
- RELX shares closed up on Thursday following the release of full-year results and news of a larger buyback plan.
- Investors haven’t settled the question of generative AI’s impact on the group’s pricing power—it’s still under scrutiny.
- Coming up: buyback speed through March, plus April’s trading update and AGM.
RELX heads into Friday’s London session at 2,052 pence, after climbing 39 pence, or 1.94%, by Thursday’s close. The FTSE 100-listed information and analytics heavyweight is working to regain its footing following a tough stretch for “data” stocks. 1
Here’s why this is front and center: investors have been unloading shares across the sector, spooked by worries that generative AI—think instant text generation and smart summaries—might start displacing paid research and workflow products. RELX, for its part, has seen its share price tumble by about half over the past twelve months. The slide accelerated earlier this month, right after Anthropic rolled out a new Claude chatbot plugin that rattled RELX as well as rivals Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters, which owns Reuters News. 2
RELX isn’t buying into the disruption narrative. “The continued evolution of artificial intelligence is enabling us to add more value to our customers,” Chief Executive Erik Engström said. He highlighted quicker product rollouts and noted that costs are rising more slowly than revenue. 3
The company posted 2025 revenue of £9.59 billion, showing 7% underlying growth, and booked adjusted operating profit of £3.34 billion, a 9% rise on the same underlying basis. “Underlying” here excludes currency movements and certain portfolio changes, while “constant currency” figures take out exchange rate effects. Adjusted earnings per share were up 10% at constant currency, reaching 128.5 pence. RELX put forward a full-year dividend of 67.5 pence. 4
Capital returns are taking on a bigger role here. RELX announced plans for an irrevocable, “non-discretionary” share buyback of £450 million, set to run from Feb. 12 through March 20. UBS is handling the execution, making its own trading calls within limits pre-set by market-abuse regulations. “The purpose of the Programme is to reduce the capital of the Company,” the company said. 5
RELX has been making moves in the market. On Thursday, the company picked up 1.4 million shares via UBS, paying a volume-weighted average of 2,046.6155 pence each. Prices for those trades landed between 2,006 and 2,099 pence. All the shares are headed for treasury. Since Jan. 2, RELX has snapped up 10.24 million shares in total. 6
Broker notes are trickling in. UBS’s Jo Barnet-Lamb maintained a “Buy” on the shares, sticking with a 4,570 pence target price, per a Thursday note. 7
Dividend chatter is picking up, following RELX’s move to increase its total payout. The company is putting forward a final dividend of 48.0 pence per share, set for payment on June 18. Ex-dividend comes May 7, with the record date falling on May 8. All of this depends on shareholder approval at the 2026 AGM. 8
Still, the risk scenario hasn’t disappeared. Should law firms and corporates accelerate their move to cheaper AI tools, even established platforms could see pressure on renewal rates and pricing. That’s where leverage could bite, if growth falters. Net debt climbed from £6.6 billion to £7.2 billion, according to Hargreaves Lansdown. Analyst Matt Britzman summed it up: “This is not a company rushing to bolt AI onto its products.” 9
Investors don’t have long to wait for catalysts: RELX’s buyback period ends March 20, while April 23 brings both the annual general meeting and a trading update. 10
