A sharp sell-off in RELX PLC (LSE:REL) shares over the past year may have left the market underestimating the company’s growth prospects, according to JPMorgan, which argues that concerns over artificial intelligence have gone too far.
RELX shares fell 15% in 2025 and are down 27% from their June peak, a steeper decline than most US-listed information services peers, which were down about 5% over the same period.
That underperformance reflects investor anxiety that AI could disrupt established data and analytics businesses. JPM’s view is the opposite: AI should reinforce RELX’s competitive position rather than undermine it.
The bank says RELX now trades on a little over 21 times forecast 2026 earnings, down from around 24 times last year, a de-rating it believes is hard to justify given the group’s growth profile.
Since the start of 2025, JPM has cut its 2026 earnings forecasts by 2%, but stresses this is not a sign of weaker trading.
Underlying expectations have actually been upgraded by about 2%, more than offset by a 4% currency headwind.
Growth in RELX’s two most important divisions sits at the heart of the argument.
The US bank expects the Legal business to accelerate to more than 10% organic growth next year, helped by increased demand for workflow tools that use AI to improve research, drafting and decision-making.
In scientific, technical and medical publishing, the bank has lifted its longer-term growth assumption to 8%, from 6%, reflecting how AI can enhance discovery and productivity rather than replace trusted content.
That view underpins JPM’s decision to raise its price target to 5,070p from 4,920p, despite taking a more cautious stance elsewhere.
The bank has increased its assumed cost of capital and nudged up its long-term tax rate, explicitly to leave more headroom in the valuation.
Duration is the key sensitivity. JPMorgan notes that if RELX’s strong cashflow growth were assumed to persist for longer, extending forecasts from 2035 to 2040, the valuation could rise materially further, with an implied price of about 5,820p under an 8% annual cashflow growth assumption.
For now, the message is more measured. JPMorgan believes the recent share price weakness reflects misplaced fears about AI.
In its view, RELX’s ability to embed AI into mission-critical products means the technology should deepen customer relationships and support long-term growth, making the recent pullback look more like an opportunity than a warning.