When Rightmove revealed its AI investment plans on November 7, 2025, investors didn't exactly throw a party.
The property portal giant's shares plummeted over 13% that day, closing at 569.40 GBX after initially cratering as much as 24%. Ouch.
The market's brutal reaction stemmed from Rightmove's announcement of an £18 million AI investment for 2026.
Sure, the company still expects 8-10% revenue growth next year, but operating profit growth got slashed to just 3-5%. Analysts had been banking on around 10%. That's quite a haircut.
CEO Johan Svanstrom positioned AI as central to the company's future, promising improved search capabilities and backend infrastructure advancements.
The company's even partnering with Google Cloud for a multi-year collaboration.
Eight new product teams have already been added this year, all focused on AI-driven growth initiatives.
But investors aren't buying the vision. At least not yet.
The share price drop wiped over 85 GBX off the stock, sending it to March lows and continuing a slide from summer peaks above 820 GBX.
Trading volume surged as nervous shareholders headed for the exits.
The anxiety runs deeper than just short-term profit hits.
Some fear AI could commoditize property search, threatening Rightmove's comfortable 86% UK market share.
What if cheaper AI alternatives emerge?
What if the company's technology moat crumbles?
Rightmove's initial half showed solid fundamentals - revenue up 10% to £211.7 million, operating profits growing 10% with margins around 70%.
The board even approved a 9% dividend increase, signaling confidence.
Yet none of that mattered when AI fears took hold.
Management remains bullish about the long game.
They're projecting 10%+ revenue growth and operating profit growth exceeding 12% beyond 2030, all thanks to AI enhancements. The company has already migrated 60% of their platform to the cloud as part of this transformation.
Whether that timeline satisfies impatient investors remains questionable.
Analysts are split.
Some view the selloff as overreaction, others see legitimate disruption concerns. The stock currently trades at approximately 28 times forward earnings, suggesting elevated valuation concerns persist despite the recent decline.
With emerging competitors like OnTheMarket lurking, Rightmove's betting big that AI investments will fortify rather than undermine its dominant position.
The company expects to save operational hours through basic AI tools as businesses typically reduce weekly workload by around 26 hours with such implementations.
The market's verdict? A resounding "we'll see."