🔥 Analyst note...24 Feb 2026 14:52
For the newbies amongst us...
Analyst note
RELX: Just Keeps Getting Better; Shares Deeply Undervalued
RELX's fourth quarter delivered in-line growth and better-than-expected margins versus FactSet consensus. 2026 guidance was upgraded, and the share buyback was increased 50%. Shares rose 2% on Feb. 12.
Why it matters: Despite market worries, there was not even a hint of weakness in RELX's results. The company continues to deliver strong performance with growth shifting upward in the scientific, technical, and medical business, and the legal one. RELX does not give hard numbers in guidance, but wording for growth in STM was upgraded to "strong" in 2026 from "good" in 2025. An implied growth upgrade was confirmed on the call. The legal business' growth accelerated to 9% in 2025. It is now the fastest-growing segment. We expect this momentum to continue with increasing penetration of Lexis+ artificial intelligence and ongoing product innovation.
The bottom line: We raise our fair value estimates to GBX 4,200, $57, and EUR 48 from GBX 3,900, $52, and EUR 45.50 for wide-moat RELX. The shares look deeply undervalued. We've upgraded our growth outlook for STM and legal, given improving momentum and compelling new product launches such as LeapSpace in STM and the new suite of Protégé AI workflows in legal. RELX shares are down 50% from their peak in 2025 after getting caught in the selloff in information services due to the AI disruption narrative. We think its wide moat is secure, and it will benefit from AI through enhanced product innovation opportunities.
Coming up: 2026 guidance is for another year of strong underlying growth in revenue, EBIT, and EPS on a constant-currency basis. 2026 guidance by segment includes strong revenue growth and EBIT growth exceeding revenue growth in risk, STM, and legal. The exhibitions business is expected to have strong revenue growth with an improvement in EBIT margin.
13/02/2026
by Rob Hales, CFA for Morningstar