The FTSE 250‘s grown by almost 10% over the last 12 months. But not every UK mid-cap stock’s been along for the ride. And Rightmove‘s (LSE:RMV) a striking case in point.
The UK’s dominant property portal now sits near its lowest valuation in over a decade despite continuing to post solid numbers and fundamentals.
So what on earth happened? And is this secretly a buying opportunity?
Why the market’s soured
The sell-off in Rightmove shares has been driven by two fears that have fed off each other. The first is that growth expectations have come down considerably. After years of exceptional margin expansion, investors began to question how much more Rightmove could squeeze from its customers, especially in today’s subdued housing market.
This concern wasn’t entirely unfounded given the group’s now facing a lawsuit about the platform’s pricing practices, which cemented even more pessimism among a sceptical investor base.
But the second, and arguably more damagingly fear comes in the form of potential artificial intelligence (AI) disruption.
With AI-powered property search tools on the rise, investors are understandably worried that Rightmove might soon lose its stranglehold over the UK property search industry overnight.
With all this in mind, it’s no wonder why Rightmove shares have been aggressively sold off. But despite all the doom and gloom, the group’s underlying numbers paint a completely different picture.
The numbers tell a different story
Management isn’t blind to the threat of AI and has aggressively begun investing in its own suite of AI-powered tools to refine and improve the platform. More crucially, it’s leveraging a critical advantage that other AI players simply don’t have: data.
The business now has 43 AI initiatives actively in development, up from 31 at the end of 2025. And its AI-powered conversational search tool’s already showing early signs of driving higher lead volumes for estate agent partners.
As such, CEO Johan Svanstrom struck a confident tone, noting that the business is “innovating across our platform faster than ever before” and that early engagement with its AI-powered search tool is showing “long-term potential.”
And with the fundamentals continuing to support impressive cash generation, investors are seemingly pricing this business as if it has already been disrupted. The only trouble is that isn’t actually what’s happened.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean Rightmove can’t be disrupted in the future. It certainly can. But if the company continues to defy the prevailing narrative, the FTSE 250 could start to bounce back sharply.
What now?
Elevated interest rates have subdued activity within the UK property sector, which has had some knock-on effects for Rightmove’s business.
But this is hardly the first time the platform’s had to navigate a soft housing market. And with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 14.7, Rightmove shares look unreasonably cheap compared to the quality of its underlying business.
In my mind, the risk-to-reward ratio looks too attractive to pass up. That’s why I’m already considering this business for my growth portfolio. And for other contrarian investors, the company could also be worth a closer look.
Should you invest £5,000 in Rightmove Plc right now?
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And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Rightmove Plc made the list?
Zaven Boyrazian does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.
