$RELX

Relx stock rose 2.6% to $37.87 in pre-market trading after Bank of America reaffirmed its Buy rating and GBp 4,000 price target, citing AI-driven growth and share buybacks. The company's AI tools, like Lexis+, are boosting sales, and analysts remain optimistic ahead of its October 22 update.

RELX PLC bought 746,868 of its own shares on the London Stock Exchange from 28 September to 2 October 2026, at an average price of 2503.5372 pence per share. The shares will be held as treasury stock. The company now holds 86,076,451 shares in treasury and has 1,743,014,323 shares in issue, excluding treasury shares. Since 2 January 2026, RELX PLC has purchased 81,968,579 ordinary shares.

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.