RELX (LON: REL) shares slipped Thursday even after TD Cowen began coverage of the data and analytics group with a bullish rating.
TD Cowen analyst Nat Puccia initiated the stock at buy with a 3,500-pence price target, arguing the market has wrongly branded RELX an “AI casualty.”
Instead, he said the company’s proprietary data, embedded workflows and trusted decision tools make it an AI beneficiary, with the technology increasing the value of its content and analytics and supporting “durable growth, margin expansion, and a re-rating.”
Ready to put what you’ve learned into practice?
Try IG’s platform with £10,000 in virtual funds and practise trading
without putting your own money at risk.
Try IG with a demo account →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Learn the markets with IG Academy
Build your knowledge with IG Academy educational content, then use a
demo account to practise what you’ve learned on the IG platform.
Explore IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
See how trading works before risking real money
IG’s demo gives you access to thousands of markets and £10,000 in
virtual funds, so you can explore the platform and test your ideas first.
Open an IG demo →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Turn trading theory into practical experience
Learn with IG Academy, explore charts and market tools, and practise
strategies in a simulated trading environment before going live.
Start practising with IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Ready to take your learning further?
IG combines market education, analysis and an established trading platform,
giving you the tools to keep learning as you develop your trading skills.
Discover IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Despite the call, RELX shares fell 0.8%. The stock has been a notable laggard, down 17.4% so far this year and 28.4% over the past 12 months as investors weighed the threat from artificial intelligence to its information services.
“We view RELX as a high-quality information services provider with strong market positions in its end markets,” added Puccia. “While near-term stock volatility has been driven by investor concern around generative AI disruption, we believe RELX is structurally advantaged and positioned.”
The TD Cowen note adds to a broadly constructive run of broker views. In June, Goldman Sachs also initiated RELX at buy, saying it had been wrongly lumped in with companies seen as at risk from AI and pointing to a strong competitive moat and new AI products that should accelerate sales growth.
In July, BofA raised its target to 3,950 pence, saying first-half results “offered reassurance on the duration of growth” in the key legal and scientific divisions, while Barclays nudged its target higher.
Not all analysts are as positive. In May, Morgan Stanley downgraded RELX to equal weight, citing valuation and rising competition from rapidly scaling workflow-focused startups.
