Goldman Sachs on Wednesday began coverage of RELX Plc with a "buy" recommendation and a 12-month price target of £30 per share, pointing to the information and analytics companys structural insulation from artificial intelligence disruption and its long-term growth prospects.
The note argued that RELX has been "misplaced in the AI 'at risk' category," awarding the group a structural AI resilience score of 9 out of 10 under the brokers newly created segment-level AI moat framework. That score represents the highest rating within Goldman Sachs European Media & Internet coverage universe. For context, the report reported a comparative score of 6.8 for Wolters Kluwer.
Goldman Sachs segment-level ratings underscore the brokers view of RELXs competitive positioning across its operating businesses. The Risk and Legal divisions each received scores of 9.9 out of 10, and Exhibitions was also rated 9.9. Within the STM (scientific, technical and medical) area, STM Primary Research scored 7.7, while STM Tools scored 6.6.
The broker singled out the Risk division as a core competitive advantage. Risk accounted for 39% of the groups adjusted EBIT in 2025, the note said. Goldman Sachs described the business as leveraging more than 25 contributory databases that are difficult to replicate, benefiting from regulatory barriers surrounding customer data collection, and being deeply embedded in client workflows.
On the revenue front, Goldman Sachs projected group organic revenue growth of 7.5% for 2026, accelerating toward roughly 8% per year between 2027 and 2030. Within that projection, Legal was identified as the fastest-growing segment, with growth anticipated to reach 10%, while STM growth was forecast to climb to 6.2% by 2030. Risk and Exhibitions were each forecast to sustain organic growth of around 8% through the period.
Goldman Sachs set out adjusted earnings per share forecasts of 140.14 pence in 2026, 157.35 pence in 2027 and 180.07 pence in 2028. The broker noted its EPS estimates for 2027 and 2028 are 1% and 3% above consensus, respectively.
Free cash flow was projected to rise to b82.61 billion in 2027 and b82.93 billion in 2028, which the bank said implies a compound annual growth rate of about 9% between 2026 and 2030.
Goldman Sachs discounted cash flow valuation applies an 8.5% weighted average cost of capital, a 2% terminal growth rate, and assumes EBITDA margins broadly stable at around 41%. Using that framework, the brokers £30 target equates to an implied valuation of about 19 times estimated 2027 earnings.
The note contrasted Goldman Sachs view with market pricing. A reverse discounted cash flow analysis in the report suggested the market was pricing in annual free cash flow growth of only 2.5% in perpetuity beyond 2030.
On multiples, the report said RELX was trading at 17.7 times estimated 2026 earnings, versus a global information services peer average of 20.6 times. A sum-of-the-parts exercise using Goldman Sachs target multiples for peers such as Verisk, Thomson Reuters, Springer Nature and Informa generated a valuation of b831 per share.
Goldman Sachs flagged several growth catalysts for RELX. Those include Prot e9g e9, RELXs new Legal AI platform; LeapSpace, an offering launched in the STM business in early 2026; and accelerating contribution from new products within Risk. The report highlighted that new products contributed six percentage points to Risks organic growth in 2025, up from a historical average of about five percentage points.
Overall, Goldman Sachs initiation presents a constructive view of RELXs prospects, anchored in high AI resilience scores, division-level strength - notably in Risk - and projected improvements in revenue, margins and cash generation through 2028 and into the 2027-2030 period.
Summary
Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on RELX with a buy rating and a b830 target. The broker assigned top scores for AI resilience across RELXs divisions, emphasized the Risk segments contribution to adjusted EBIT, and provided forecasts for organic revenue growth, EPS and free cash flow through 2028, underpinned by a discounted cash flow valuation using an 8.5% WACC and a 2% terminal growth rate.
Key implications for markets and sectors
- Information services and analytics: RELX is positioned as a high-resilience business within the sector according to Goldman Sachs AI moat framework.
- Legal and Risk services: These divisions are highlighted as primary drivers of earnings and organic growth.
- Equity valuation and investor expectations: Goldman Sachs target implies multiple expansion versus current trading multiples and identifies a gap between market pricing and the brokers growth assumptions.