Down 29% year-to-date! Is this now one of the best stocks to buy in February?

2026 has been quite a rough year for RELX (LSE:REL) shares, but could this once-loved data giant now be among the best stocks to buy?

After all, investors can now snap up shares at a near-30% discount compared to a month ago. And since we last heard from management, the business was seemingly thriving with both revenue and underlying profits on track to deliver strong results.

What’s going on with RELX?

Typically, large double-digit sell-offs are triggered by disappointing trading updates or earnings reports. But that’s not what’s going on in this instance. Instead, the stock’s been caught up in a broader narrative of technology and data companies becoming victims of artificial intelligence (AI) rather than beneficiaries.

The announcement of a new AI model by Anthropic has cast doubt on the future demand of RELX’s Legal, Scientific, Technical, and Medical proprietary databases that currently make up close to half its revenue stream.

It’s worth pointing out that this sell-off is ultimately being driven by speculation at this stage of the game. Even with advanced AI models becoming more readily available, Relx is also investing in its own AI solutions that might prove more effective given its unique access to proprietary data.

Nevertheless, with fear driving short-term investor decisions and Relx shares trading at a premium valuation, it’s hardly a surprise to see the share price take a beating.

Is everyone wrong?

Contrary to the current narrative, AI’s so far proven to be a tailwind for RELX’s underlying business. At least, that’s the investment thesis of the analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux who recently issued a Buy recommendation for Relx with a 3,905p share price target – 83% ahead of where the stock trades today.

In late 2025, the company launched its Protégé General AI platform – a legal tool that provides far more in-depth research capabilities and data access than Anthropic’s solution. And Kepler highlighted that Relx’s AI-driven software upgrades have already started delivering double-digit increases in client spending on multi-year contracts.

If this thesis proves accurate, the shares could soon see their premium valuation return, making Kepler’s aggressive share price target not so unrealistic.

Of course, this outcome’s not set in stone. Even if Protégé General AI proves to be more powerful, the platform’s also significantly more expensive. And while it may prove essential for complex cases, for more routine legal work, Anthropic’s model may prove more than sufficient, reducing the amount customers need to spend with Relx.

So where does that leave investors?

The bottom line

Looking at RELX’s price-to-earnings ratio today, the stock still trades at an elevated valuation of around 21 times. As such, the stock could have further to fall if investor sentiment remains weak. So while the shares are undoubtedly cheaper than before, they’re still not in bargain territory.

Combining all this with the uncertainty surrounding the future of customer demand, I’m not convinced that investors should consider ‘buying the dip’, so to speak. Instead, I think investors should focus on finding other top stocks to buy right now.

The post Down 29% year-to-date! Is this now one of the best stocks to buy in February? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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Zaven Boyrazian has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended RELX. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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