At a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.9, Rightmove (LSE:RMV) shares may not sound like an obvious value stock opportunity. But with its share price crashing almost 50% since August, Rightmove shares are now trading at their lowest point in five years, at a P/E ratio that’s also at its lowest point in over a decade.
And yet, profits are at record highs. So what on earth’s going on? And are investors looking at an incredible buying opportunity?
Record earnings
There’s no denying it, 2025 was a pretty impressive year for Rightmove. Even with reducing home buying activity in the second half of last year (due to uncertainty surrounding the Autumn Budget), the online property portal saw user engagement and advertiser spending both continue to charge ahead.
The result? Revenue climbed 9% to a new all-time high of £425.1m, along with 12% boost to operating profits reaching a record of £287.9m. And thanks to continuous share buybacks, earnings per share jumped ahead 15% to yet another record high of 28.1p.
But if that’s the case, why are Rightmove shares being sold off?
Falling share price
Last November, Rightmove’s leadership made an announcement that put a lot of investors on edge. The group outlined a plan to invest £60m in developing and launching new AI tools and features for its platform.
However, this strategy’s also expected to cause earnings growth to slow to low-single digits. And investors got spooked, triggering a pretty painful sell-off in the stock.
But, here’s where things get interesting…
Short-term growth’s expected to slow as a result of this increased planned capex. But if management’s forecasts are correct, these investments are expected to drive growth back up to double-digit territory by 2030 and beyond. In other words, the company’s inflicting short-term pain for potentially significantly improved long-term gain.
Is this strategy guaranteed to work? Of course not. But Rightmove’s strategic track record’s pretty remarkable. After all, technological innovation is one of the biggest reasons why the platform dominates the UK online property portal space.
So if Rightmove does indeed deliver on its goals, investors who buy shares at today’s historic dirt cheap valuation could be immensely rewarded in the coming years.
What to watch
Investors need to keep a close eye on management updates about its AI investments, looking for things like user adoption of these new tools, and whether or not real estate agents are eager to spend money to access them.
There are also other risks to keep tabs on. Rightmove’s pricing power has enabled it to continuously hike its fees each year. But that’s also drawn the ire of some customers, with the company being targeted with a class action lawsuit alleging the firm has abused its dominant market position.
The legal bar for proving market abuse is pretty high. And it could take years before this case makes it to a proper trial, assuming it’s not settled before then. Nevertheless, it’s a risk worth keeping an eye on moving forward.
Even so, with the market pricing Rightmove shares so cheaply compared to the quality of the underlying business, this untraditional value stock is definitely worth mulling over, in my opinion. And it’s not the only one…
