Overview
- Rightmove will invest £60 million over three years, including £18 million next year split between a £12 million P&L charge and £6 million in capital spending.
- The company now guides for 3% to 5% underlying operating profit growth next year, down from prior expectations of 4% to 9%.
- Shares fell as much as 28% on the announcement, erasing more than £1 billion in value before closing 12.5% lower at a £4.3 billion market capitalization.
- Rightmove says 27 AI projects are in train with four live, including an AI keyword search trained on 25 years of listings, seller-targeting tools (Discover, Opportunity Manager) and a virtual staging feature ('Style with AI').
- Analyst views diverged, with RBC upgrading the stock on long-term potential, UBS downgrading on delayed payoffs, and AJ Bell highlighting investor skepticism and execution risk.