RELX

RELX is a UK-based information and analytics company built from four businesses. Risk, sold under the LexisNexis Risk Solutions brand, is the largest segment at about 37% of first-half 2026 revenue; it sells data and analytics tools that insurers, banks, and government agencies use to screen for fraud, verify identities, and price risk. Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM), sold under the Elsevier brand, is about 28% of revenue; it publishes scientific and medical journals and sells research databases such as ScienceDirect and Scopus that researchers and universities pay to access. Legal, sold under LexisNexis Legal & Professional, is about 20% of revenue; it sells legal research databases, case law, and AI-powered tools such as Lexis+ AI to law firms and corporate legal departments.

Exhibitions, run under the RX brand, is about 12% of revenue; it organizes trade shows and conferences worldwide, earning money from exhibitor space, sponsorships, and attendee fees. RELX shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (its main listing), Euronext Amsterdam, and the New York Stock Exchange, where each ADR represents one ordinary share; the company merged its former dual UK/Dutch corporate structure into a single company, RELX PLC, in 2018. Erik Engstrom has been CEO since 2009, and Nick Luff has been CFO since 2014.

Investors fear that AI chatbots will replace RELX's subscription research tools. This fear centers on Legal and STM (scientific, technical, and medical publishing), the two segments that produce most of RELX's profit. A single AI product launch by a rival can trigger a sharp sell-off, as it did in February 2026.

The gap can close if Legal and STM keep growing revenue and profit faster than the group average, the way they did in the first half of 2026. The Doctrine acquisition, completed in September 2026, must show it can win legal AI subscriptions across continental Europe, not only in France. The nine-month trading update of October 22, 2026 showed Legal and STM growing at the same pace as in the first half, and RELX kept its full-year outlook.

Full-year 2026 results are expected in early 2027. If Legal and STM keep outgrowing the AI fear through those reports, the discount can start to close over the next two to four quarters. Because the fear is driven by sentiment, a new AI product launch from any competitor, even one aimed at a different company, could reopen the gap at any time.

1. Oct 22, 2026Passed

   Nine-month trading update: Legal and STM growthLegal and STM growth at or above the first-half pace and the full-year outlook kept pass; slower Legal or STM growth or a weaker outlook fails.Outcome: Legal grew 10% and STM 6% in the first nine months, the same pace as in the first half, and RELX kept its full-year outlook.
2. Jan 22, 2027 · est.Pending

   Full-year 2026 results and 2027 buyback planUnderlying revenue growth near 7% with Legal and STM profit growth above group average and a new buyback in line with past years pass; slowing Legal growth or a smaller buyback fails.
3. Apr 2027 · est.Pending

   AGM trading update: Doctrine and legal AI salesStatements that Lexis+ AI and Doctrine grow subscriptions across Europe and that full-year guidance holds pass; signs of customers moving to rival AI tools fail.

Every passed and failed checkpoint across all picks

• October 22, 2026RELX issued its nine-month trading update. Underlying revenue grew 7% in the first nine months of 2026. Risk grew 8%, STM 6%, Legal 10% and Exhibitions 4%. Middle East disruption slowed Exhibitions. RELX kept its outlook for strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit in 2026, and strong growth in adjusted EPS at constant currency.
• October 22, 2026RELX started the last £125m share buyback tranche of 2026, to run until December 2, 2026. It completes the £2,250m buyback target for 2026. On October 21, RELX cancelled 87 million shares that it held in treasury, which left 1,741 million shares in issue.
• September 7, 2026RELX started a new £125m share buyback tranche, to run until October 21, 2026. With the earlier tranches, the 2026 buybacks reach about £2,125m of the £2,250m target. This total is our sum of RELX's own announcements.

Last earnings

October 22, 2026

Next earnings

Expected about January 22, 2027. The company has not confirmed the date.

• 20-FAnnual report for the period ended Dec 31, 2025Filed February 19, 2026 · relx-20251231x20f
• 20-FAnnual report for the period ended Dec 31, 2024Filed February 20, 2025 · relx-20241231x20f

Every filing on SEC EDGAR (CIK 929869)

• Generative AI chatbots and AI-native legal and research tools, like Anthropic's Claude legal plug-in, could reduce demand for RELX's subscription research products over time. Legal is the segment investors worry about most, and it already has RELX's lowest operating margin, at 21.7% in the first half of 2026.
• RELX's Risk segment sells data to government agencies, including ICE for immigration enforcement. In March 2026, more than 200 journalists at Law360 and related titles publicly objected to this, The American Friends Service Committee estimates that RELX subsidiaries received more than $172 million in US Department of Homeland Security contracts from 2005 to 2024. Continued controversy could bring reputational and regulatory risk.
• Net debt rose to £8,733m (2.3x EBITDA) at the end of June 2026, up from £7,201m (2.0x) at the end of 2025, because RELX spent £1,750m on buybacks. In the second half, more buybacks, the interim dividend and the Doctrine acquisition add to net debt. Further leverage increases would use up capacity for future deals or buybacks.
• LexisNexis has had more than one data breach. In March 2026, LexisNexis confirmed a breach; the attacker claimed about 400,000 records, and the company said that the data was mostly from before 2020 and held no Social Security or financial data. In 2025, LexisNexis Risk Solutions disclosed a different breach that affected about 364,000 people. Repeated breaches could damage trust with customers who rely on RELX to protect sensitive personal data.
• The Doctrine acquisition and other legal-AI deals expand RELX's position in European legal information services, where regulators may scrutinize further consolidation given RELX's already strong market position.
• RELX's Exhibitions segment, about 12% of revenue, depends on global business travel and event spending, which can fall quickly in a recession or health scare, as it did during the pandemic. In the first nine months of 2026, Middle East disruption slowed its underlying revenue growth to 4%, from 6% in the first half.
• Because much of the current share-price discount is tied to a single debate over whether AI helps or hurts RELX, a new competing AI product launch, even one aimed at a rival, can trigger another sharp, sentiment-driven drop in RELX's stock regardless of its own results, as happened in February 2026.

RELX funds itself with strong subscription cash flow and with bonds, bank loans and commercial paper, mostly in US dollars and euros. The borrowings have an average remaining life of only 3.7 years, down from 4.0 years at the end of 2025. Read more

Yield at the current rate

2.3% (current annual rate, at today’s price)

Dividend yield

2.3% (last 12 months, at today’s price of $40.10)

Paid per share

$0.935 in the last 12 months (2 payments)

Current annual rate

$0.935 (the last two payments)

Latest ex-dividend date

August 7, 2026, $0.279 per share

Dividends per share by year

From 2020 to 2025, the dividend grew by about 6.9% a year. From 2015 to 2025, the dividend grew by about 7.3% a year.

Source: company filings and market data, read on November 13, 2026. The ex-dividend date is the first day a buyer no longer gets the next payment.