Shares in Rightmove plunged sharply on Friday – falling by as much as 28% before rebounding to end the day down 12.3% – after the property‑portal announced a major ramp‑up in artificial‑intelligence (AI) investment that will temper profit growth in 2026.
Rightmove’s plans to spend heavily on artificial intelligence at the expense of profit growth deterred investors and sent shares in the property listings website down, wiping more than £1bn off its market value.
Last week the property portal announced that it is developing a range of artificial intelligence initiatives aimed at supporting estate agents.
Rightmove says these AI developments are designed to improve efficiency, enhance listings, streamline workflows, and provide smarter tools for managing clients and leads.
While details of all the individual features are yet to be revealed, the company says the developments will play a central role in the platform’s future.
Next year, Rightmove plans to invest an additional £12m on its profit and loss account, alongside £6m on capital projects, to advance its technology and AI strategy.
The £12m equates to roughly 4% of expected profits and is expected to delay the achievement of some revenue growth targets.
In a trading statement, Rightmove’s CEO, Johan Svanstrom, said that AI will be “absolutely central” to the company’s operations. He outlined a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud aimed at enhancing Rightmove’s data, AI, and platform capabilities.
The investment will focus on areas including AI-powered search, digital property valuations, and AI-enhanced operational processes, leveraging the vast amounts of data the company has collected over the years.
Despite the increased spending, Rightmove reaffirmed its 2025 revenue guidance of around 9% growth. However, the company warned that underlying operating profit growth is expected to slow to 3-5% in 2026 as the new technology investments begin to take effect.
RBC Capital Markets analyst, Anthony Codling, said: “When founded, Rightmove was in the right place at the right time. It harnessed our love of homes with a growing love of the internet creating a business where 2+2=5. Yes the Group worked hard, but its timing blessed it with super normal returns.
” Once the train had left the station, the cash rolled in and the model worked on autopilot. Previous management teams sat back and enjoyed sitting in the shade of the magic money tree they had the good fortune to tend to. However, times have changed, and the current management want to take Rightmove to a new level, to harness AI in the way that the founders harnessed the internet.
“Rightmove profits have, in the main, grown each year, but these new proposals may be a case of two steps back to move three steps forward. Current FY2026-28 consensus is ahead of today’s guidance, the pressure will be on management at today’s presentation to explain why now is the time to take a step back and shake up the money tree, how they will get the balance right between pruning to promote growth vs cutting too far, and why this is the right next move.”
