London, Jan 10, 2026, 08:40 GMT — Market closed
- Morgan Stanley cut Rightmove to “underweight”, with a 510p target
- Shares last closed at 515.6p, after a sharp intraday swing around the 500p level
- UK house-price growth has slowed, keeping the spotlight on rates and housing demand into results
Rightmove shares head into the new week with a fresh broker downgrade hanging over them, after Morgan Stanley cut the UK property portal to “underweight” — a call to hold less than a benchmark. TipRanks
The timing is awkward for property-linked names. UK house prices rose just 0.3% in the year to December, Halifax data showed this week, and the lender flagged a soft month-end. “It looks very likely interest rates will be cut less this year than they were last year,” Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said. Reuters
That matters for Rightmove because the company’s customers are estate agents and housebuilders who sell advertising and leads when buyers show up and sellers list. If confidence slips, marketing budgets are one of the first dials to turn down.
Rightmove RMV.L ended Friday at 515.6p, up 1.5%, after dipping as low as 498.4p and opening at 500p. The session left traders eyeing the 500p area again, with the stock still well below its 52-week high of 827.0p.
The broader FTSE 100 rose 0.8% on Friday to 10,124.60, adding to a strong first week of the year, which blunted some of the sting from stock-specific calls.
Rightmove itself has been pushing upbeat demand signals. It said visits on Boxing Day 2025 were the highest on record, enquiries to estate agents rose 67% in the five days after Christmas, and new listings jumped 143% versus the five days before Christmas. “Boxing Day’s data suggests agents could have a busy start to 2026,” Chief Data Officer Steve Pimblett said. Rightmove
Still, the market’s been sensitive to the cost side of the story. In November, Rightmove warned that stepped-up investment — including AI-related work — would slow 2026 underlying operating profit growth to 3%-5%, and CEO Johan Svanstrom said AI was “absolutely central” to how the firm planned for the future. Reuters
The risk case is straightforward: if the labour market cools faster than expected, or mortgage rates stop easing, would-be movers may wait, and agents could push back on price rises for advertising packages. A bruising start to the year for UK housing would also hand rivals more room to compete on deals and discounts.
Investors’ next hard catalyst is Rightmove’s 2025 full-year results on Feb. 27, when the focus will swing to 2026 revenue growth assumptions, spending plans and whether early-year traffic turns into paid activity for agents.
