Brokers are offering increasingly enthusiastic recommendations for stocks to buy this year. That’s maybe not surprising, as the FTSE 100 appears to have woken from a decade of slumber. And it’s firmly above 10,000 points now.
On top of that, analysts predict a new record for dividends from the top London index this year. They could reach as much as £86bn. And that’s without considering further cash returns from share buybacks.
100% bullish
A look at recommendations for RELX (LSE: REL) shows all 15 out of the 15 brokers I could find with a Buy or Outperform stance on the stock. Those two things essentially mean the same. And their average price target of 3,600p is a full 33% above the price at the time of writing.
RELX went rapidly out of fashion as investors feared the AI revolution could overtake its business, which involves data analytics — specialising in the medical, legal and business sectors.
But at 2025 results time in February, the company reported a 7% rise in revenue, with adjusted operating profit up 9% and earnings per share up 10%. The board lifted the dividend by an inflation-busting 7%.
RELX is in fact using AI to its advantage. CEO Erik Engstrom told us: “The continued evolution of artificial intelligence is enabling us to add more value to our customers, as we embed additional functionality in our products, and to develop and launch products at a faster pace.” He added it “will remain a key driver of customer value and growth in our business for many years to come.“
The AI revolution could also make it easier for competitors to try to steal an edge, so we need to watch for that. But I rate RELX as one to consider for investors looking for real-world profits enhanced by AI.
Earnings growth
AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) doesn’t inspire quite the same 100% following. But of a list of 24 analysts offering targets, a full 20 of them think we should buy the stock. And only two see it as a Sell.
In this case, we’re looking at a share price that’s had a very solid five years. But that comes on the back of impressive profit growth. Earnings per share (EPS) more than trebled between 2022 and 2025. And analysts predict EPS growth of a further 60% by 2028.
On top of that, they expect net debt to drop from the $23.4bn recorded at the end of 2025, to just $2.4bn over that same timescale.
AstraZeneca has long been on a premium P/E valuation, with a multiple of 26 on the cards for 2026. It could drop to 20 by 2028, which is still above the FTSE 100 long-term average. Would that still be justified? I think a key danger is that the earnings growth cycle might start to fade, and that could drive growth investors away.
Still, we have two stocks here that City analysts think investors should consider buying. I find it impossible to disagree.
