London, 4 December 2025 – Shares in review-platform operator Trustpilot Group Plc (LON: TRST) were hammered on Thursday after activist short-seller Grizzly Research published a scathing report accusing the company of “mafia-style” tactics and systemic abuse of its review ecosystem. At the same time, Trustpilot continues to buy back its own shares, a major shareholder has just crossed the 5% ownership threshold, and most sell-side analysts still have Buy ratings with price targets roughly double the current share price. [1]
Below is a detailed look at what happened today, what Grizzly is alleging, how the fundamentals stack up, and what the latest forecasts imply for Trustpilot stock.
Trustpilot share price today: sharp sell-off, new 52‑week low
Trustpilot’s London-listed shares went into freefall after the Grizzly report hit the market.
- As of early afternoon on 4 December, TRST was trading close to 150p, down roughly 20% intraday, with a day’s range of 149p–191.6p and a previous close of 189.7p. Volume ballooned to around 11.6 million shares, versus a three‑month average of about 2.5 million, marking extremely heavy trading. [2]
- The sell-off took the stock to a fresh 52‑week low at 149p, compared with a 52‑week high of 361.5p. Over the past year, Trustpilot shares are now down about 37%. [3]
- Reuters reported the stock among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250, noting a sharp drop in early trade after Grizzly disclosed a short position. [4]
- Investors’ Chronicle’s live markets blog said Trustpilot shares “sank almost 20 per cent” this morning on the report. [5]
In other words, today’s move is not just noise: the stock has broken to new lows on multiples of normal volume, triggered by a very specific catalyst.
The Grizzly Research report: “Trustpilot Mafia” and extortion claims
The immediate trigger for the sell-off was a 43‑page short report from U.S.-based Grizzly Research titled “The ‘Trustpilot Mafia’ – How the Extortion Model Destroys Trustpilot’s Value Proposition.” [6]
Key allegations made by Grizzly (framed explicitly as opinion in the report):
- Trustpilot generates revenue by selling premium memberships to businesses on its review platform.
- According to Grizzly, the company allegedly creates unsolicited review profiles for many businesses, which then attract “hyper‑negative” reviews. The report claims this pressure pushes firms into paying for Trustpilot subscriptions in order to “more actively manage” those reviews. [7]
- Grizzly argues that paying customers supposedly see their ratings “magically” jump from below 2/5 stars to above 4/5, while non‑paying businesses remain mired in negative feedback.
- The report claims that negative reviews for paying clients are challenged or removed more frequently, while supposedly fake positive reviews are left up, implying a double standard in moderation. [8]
- Grizzly also alleges that many “sketchy” or already-shut-down companies still display high ratings on Trustpilot, and points to an ecosystem of third‑party providers openly selling fake Trustpilot reviews. [9]
- Finally, it warns that because Trustpilot’s visibility on Google is currently very high, any decision by Google to downgrade or penalise its content could “effectively destroy [its] entire business model.” [10]
Importantly, Grizzly explicitly discloses a short position in Trustpilot; it stands to benefit financially if the share price falls. [11]
How the market and media are reacting
- Reuters highlighted that Trustpilot shares fell sharply after Grizzly revealed its short and reiterated the core allegation that the group creates unsolicited profiles as part of a coercive model. [12]
- Investors’ Chronicle summarised the report as accusing Trustpilot of “mafia-style” extortion against firms that don’t pay for premium subscriptions and noted that Trustpilot did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [13]
As of publication time, there is no regulatory news statement from Trustpilot responding directly to Grizzly’s claims, and no comment has been posted on the company’s investor relations news page. [14]
Reputation risks didn’t start today: SafePaper, The Guardian and fake-review concerns
Grizzly’s report lands in a context where online review platforms – and Trustpilot specifically – have already been under scrutiny.
- Late in November, digital investigations outlet SafePaper published an analysis arguing that millions of reviews across platforms like Trustpilot and Google were likely fake or AI-generated. Techloy’s write‑up of the report highlighted concerns that fake reviews were helping dubious businesses appear legitimate and that enforcement remained patchy. [15]
- In October, The Guardian reported on suspected scam investment firms using Trustpilot to boost their credibility via five‑star ratings, based on research by verification firm KwikChex into fake reviews, forged certificates and stolen corporate identities. [16]
Trustpilot, for its part, emphasises in its Trust Centre and investor materials that it deploys AI‑powered detection systems, human moderation teams and collaboration with regulators to remove fraudulent content and enforce platform rules, positioning itself as “a purpose-driven SaaS business, founded on the principles of trust and transparency.” [17]
Grizzly’s thesis essentially argues that the platform’s incentives are in conflict with that mission, and that any deterioration in perceived trust could eventually spill over into customer churn, regulatory and legal risk, and weaker growth.
Under the hood: growth, margins and cash generation remain strong
While the narrative today is dominated by the short report, Trustpilot’s underlying financial performance in 2025 has been robust.
In its results for the six months to 30 June 2025, Trustpilot reported: [18]
- Bookings of about $140m, up 19% year on year (17% in constant currency).
- Revenue of roughly $122.8m, up 23% year on year (21% in constant currency).
- Adjusted EBITDA of $18m, up 70%, with adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 14.6% (from 10.6% a year earlier).
- Adjusted free cash flow of about $15.2m, more than doubling year on year, and operating cash inflow of around $20.9m.
- The company remained only modestly profitable at the bottom line, but profit before tax and operating profit improved sharply, reflecting operating leverage.
Operationally, management pointed to:
- 22% growth in review volumes and 18% growth in TrustBox (widget) impressions, metrics that underpin network effects and monetisation. [19]
- Strong traction with larger enterprise customers, with the number of customers paying over $20,000 annually growing at a 38% compound rate over two years, and new “logo wins” including big names such as Barclays, Boots, Lindt, ING and Experian. [20]
- Launch of AI‑driven products like review summaries and semantic search, as well as a new data API (TrustLayer) aimed at monetising Trustpilot’s review corpus beyond the core SaaS offering. [21]
Analysts at Berenberg, commenting after the H1 release, noted that Trustpilot maintained guidance for high‑teens constant currency revenue growth in FY25 – broadly in line with consensus – and argued that such growth still looks achievable given the momentum in the first half. [22]
Fundamentally, this is a business with:
- High gross margins (over 80%). [23]
- Strong top-line growth in the low‑20s percentage range. [24]
- Improving profitability and cash conversion, but still relatively low returns on equity as the company invests for growth. [25]
Simply Wall St recently calculated Trustpilot’s return on capital employed (ROCE) at around 16% based on trailing twelve‑month numbers to June 2025, noting that the company has swung from losses to profitability while almost doubling capital employed – a profile they describe as consistent with early‑stage “multi‑bagger” candidates, albeit with elevated risk. [26]
Capital allocation: buybacks and a bigger JPMorgan stake
Today’s price action also arrives against the backdrop of active capital management.
Ongoing £30m share buyback
Trustpilot launched a £30 million share buyback programme in September 2025 following its strong H1 results and cash generation. [27]
In a Regulatory News Service (RNS) filing dated 4 December 2025, the company disclosed that on 3 December it had repurchased 400,000 shares on the London Stock Exchange at a volume‑weighted average price of 189.58p (trading range 187.6p–192.4p) and intends to cancel all of these shares. [28]
The same notice states that since the buyback programme began on 16 September, Trustpilot has:
- Repurchased 9,608,734 shares for cancellation
- At a total cost of approximately £19.1 million (excluding dealing costs) [29]
With today’s plunge, the remaining portion of the buyback – if continued at these levels – would retire shares at a significantly lower price than in recent weeks, mechanically lifting future earnings and free cash flow per share if fundamentals hold up.
JPMorgan Asset Management crosses the 5% threshold
Also on 4 December, Trustpilot announced via a TR‑1 “Major Holdings” form that JPMorgan Asset Management Holdings Inc. had increased its overall position to 5.01% of voting rights in the company as of 1 December. [30]
The notification shows:
- 4.04% of voting rights held via shares (about 16.24 million shares)
- A further 0.97% via cash‑settled equity swaps, taking the total exposure to that 5.01% level
This represents a small but notable increase from JPMorgan’s previous declared position of 4.95%. [31]
While one institutional buyer doesn’t negate the concerns raised by a short seller, it does underscore that at least some large, fundamental investors are still adding to positions into weakness.
Analyst ratings and price targets: consensus still firmly bullish
Despite heightened controversy, the sell-side analyst community remains broadly positive on Trustpilot.
Consensus across major data providers
According to Investing.com’s consensus estimates as of 4 December: [32]
- 12 analysts cover the stock
- The consensus rating is “Buy”, with:
- 9 analysts rating it Buy
- 2 rating it Hold
- 1 rating it Sell
- The average 12‑month price target is about 310p, with a range of roughly 215p–385p
- Based on a spot price around 150p, that implies potential upside of roughly 100% if consensus proves correct
Fintel’s aggregated data paints a very similar picture, with: [33]
- An average one‑year price target of about 315p
- A target range from 212p to 399p
- Analyst sentiment score in the mid‑80s (out of 100), indicating strongly positive coverage
Stockopedia likewise shows a consensus target around 302p, which was about 57% above a pre‑sell‑off share price near 192p; following today’s move, implied upside is even larger. [34]
Big bank coverage: BofA, RBC, UBS, Deutsche, JPMorgan
Recent initiations and reiterations from major investment banks include: [35]
- BofA Securities – Initiated coverage in November with a Buy rating and a price target of roughly 230p, citing strong return‑on‑invested‑capital (ROIC) potential.
- RBC Capital Markets – Initiated at “Outperform” / Buy in late October with a target around 290p, pointing to Trustpilot’s shift toward higher‑value enterprise customers.
- UBS – Maintains a Buy rating with a 400p target, reaffirmed after the H1 2025 results.
- Deutsche Bank, Berenberg and JPMorgan – All have Buy or Overweight stances with targets mostly between 292p and 350p, while Panmure Liberum stands out with a Sell rating and a relatively low 200p target.
Directorstalk’s late‑November synthesis of these targets suggested an average upside of about 65% from a then‑current price of ~190p, based on a blended target a little above 310p. [36]
Put bluntly: the analyst community is almost unanimously more optimistic than today’s share price implies. The question now is whether Grizzly’s report alters their view.
Valuation and risk: high-multiple growth story meets trust shock
Even before the short report, Trustpilot was something of a “show‑me” stock:
- At prices around 190p shortly before the sell‑off and using investing.com data, the company appeared to trade on a very high forward P/E multiple, reflecting minimal current earnings and heavy expectations for profit growth. [37]
- Free cash flow, while improving, is still modest relative to market cap (~$30–31m of FCF vs ~£770–780m market capitalisation pre‑plunge). [38]
- Return on equity in the low single digits and ROCE around the mid‑teens suggest the profit engine is still early in its scaling phase, not a mature cash cow. [39]
Grizzly’s thesis attacks the intangible core of that valuation:
- Brand & trust risk
If regulators, consumers or partners such as Google conclude that Trustpilot’s ecosystem is structurally polluted with fake or manipulated reviews, the company’s brand could be damaged in ways that are hard to reverse. - Regulatory and legal risk
Authorities across Europe and elsewhere have already started to focus on the authenticity of online reviews. Previous legal cases around Trustpilot have generally affirmed its liability protections when acting as a neutral platform, but a perception that it is actively incentivising or tolerating abuse could change the calculus. [40] - Platform economics risk
If more businesses decide that Trustpilot’s badge is no longer a credible signal to consumers, or if Google downranks such content, the value of Trustpilot subscriptions and data products could fall, pressuring growth and margins.
On the other side of the ledger:
- The business is growing quickly, is cash‑generative, and carries no meaningful net debt. [41]
- The company is retiring shares via buybacks at much lower prices than where many institutions accumulated stock. [42]
- Major asset managers like JPMorgan AM are incrementally increasing holdings, not exiting. [43]
- Analysts remain strongly positive, at least until they’ve had time to digest and fact‑check Grizzly’s report in detail. [44]
From a valuation perspective, the market is now being asked to weigh improving financials and bullish forecasts against a serious challenge to the company’s social licence and business ethics.
Key things investors will be watching next
For anyone following Trustpilot Group Plc stock, several near‑term developments are likely to matter more than today’s headline price move:
- Company response to Grizzly
- Investors will want a clear, detailed rebuttal from Trustpilot addressing the main factual claims: unsolicited profiles, differential moderation for paying vs non‑paying customers, the prevalence of fake reviews, and any alleged “extortion” dynamics.
- The tone and transparency of that response—and whether it is backed by data—will heavily influence whether the short thesis gains traction beyond today’s shock.
- Regulatory or legal follow‑up
- If consumer protection agencies, data regulators or competition authorities open formal inquiries, that would raise the stakes significantly.
- Conversely, if existing controls and historical decisions continue to support Trustpilot’s neutral‑platform positioning, some of the structural risk premium may fade.
- Customer and traffic trends
- Watch for any signs of slowing bookings, softer net retention, or weaker enterprise wins in the next trading update, which would suggest reputational issues are beginning to bite. [45]
- Any deterioration in search visibility (for example, if Google adjusts how often Trustpilot content appears in AI overviews or SERPs) would also be a red flag.
- Analyst re‑ratings
- Sell‑side analysts will almost certainly revise notes in the coming days and weeks.
- Downgrades or sharply lower price targets from the likes of BofA, RBC, UBS or JPMorgan would signal that institutional conviction has weakened. [46]
- Pace of the buyback and insider dealings
- Continuation—or even acceleration—of the buyback at current depressed levels would suggest the board views the sell‑off as overdone. [47]
- Any director dealings (purchases or sales) disclosed in the coming weeks will be closely scrutinised as a real‑money vote of confidence—or lack thereof.
Bottom line
As of 4 December 2025, Trustpilot Group Plc sits at the intersection of:
- A fast‑growing, cash‑generative SaaS business with expanding enterprise traction,
- A brutal short-seller attack questioning the integrity of its business model,
- An active buyback and rising institutional ownership, and
- A consensus of bullish analyst forecasts that still imply triple‑digit upside from today’s shaken share price.
Whether Trustpilot turns this into a temporary dislocation or a lasting loss of trust will depend on what happens next: how convincingly it answers Grizzly’s allegations, how regulators react, and whether customers and partners continue to see value in the little green stars next to its name.
References
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