$RELX

Software stocks declined globally after Meta announced a new AI-powered Enterprise Platform, raising competition concerns. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said the platform will help businesses leverage AI. Shares of Salesforce, Microsoft, Workday, Snowflake, SAP, RELX, and Capgemini fell. MongoDB's CEO will lead the platform, causing its shares to drop 23%.

RELX PLC applied to list 75,000 ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange, expected on 25 September 2026. These shares will be issued under the RELX PLC Executive Share Ownership Scheme 2023 and will rank equally with existing shares.

London-listed software stocks Sage and RELX rose over 5% after major AI companies called for slower AI development, easing concerns about their businesses. The FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, contrasting with broader tech sell-offs. Analysts suggest a potential AI slowdown could benefit UK software stocks, though caution that AI investment may not significantly decrease.

Analysts made several calls on Thursday, including Truist initiating Nebius with a Buy rating and $355 price target, Deutsche Bank initiating Clover Health with a Buy rating and $6 target, and Wells Fargo upgrading Synopsys and Yum Brands. Morgan Stanley initiated Revolution Medicine and upgraded TC Energy and DT Midstream. JPMorgan upgraded Meta to Overweight with an $820 target and reiterated Tesla as Neutral.

US and European shares fell while oil prices rose amid tense US-Iran talks. The US threatened to increase economic pressure on Iran, including extending a naval blockade. Brent rose to $87.68/bbl and US oil to $81.49. In Ireland, Kingspan slid then said it will pay up to €900m for BMC. In the US, Broadcom and Applied Materials fell; SanDisk and Western Digital rose; Reddit jumped after S&P 500 inclusion.

Reuters, via Investing.com, reported that private equity firm Silver Lake is in talks to acquire Workday. Discussions are ongoing and no deal is assured. Workday shares rose nearly 18% to $206.45, valuing it around $51.1B. European software stocks including SAP, TeamViewer, and Nemetschek rose 2.5% to 8.8% by 04:01 ET.

Global stocks edged lower as investors weighed slow progress on a potential US-Iran peace deal tied to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. In Dublin, Iseq rose 0.18%. Glanbia gained 5.61% after reporting 7% H1 2026 revenue growth. In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.19% and Diageo jumped 5.58% on a $1bn cost-cut plan. S&P 500 fell 0.24%.

Springer Nature and Relx reported “strong” first-half results. Springer Nature said underlying revenue rose 6.2% and adjusted operating profit rose 7.7% for the whole company, with research segment revenue up 7.2% and adjusted operating profit up 8.2%. Total revenue reached €940m and adjusted operating profit €246m, with research segment revenue €748m and €229m, according to the company.

LexisNexis Australia and the AustLII Foundation announced an agreement to support AustLII in developing AI-enhanced legal research tools for Australia’s free public legal information service. The companies said LexisNexis will accelerate AustLII’s AI capabilities using AustLII’s legal data collection. AustLII is hosted by UTS and is a not-for-profit.

RELX (RELX) reported H1 earnings call highlights, citing growth across Risk, STM, Legal, and Exhibitions. Risk and Insurance benefited from financial crime compliance and digital fraud solutions. STM revenue rose 6% and underlying adjusted operating profit 8%. Legal posted 10% underlying revenue growth and 13% profit growth, driven by Lexis+ with Protégé. Management reiterated full-year growth expectations and said AI token costs are under 1% of costs.