London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has upgraded its full-year revenue outlook, now anticipating growth in the upper half of its 6.5% to 7.5% guidance range, following a record-breaking first quarter. This optimistic forecast is supported by a 9.8% increase in total income during the first quarter and accelerating growth across all three of its divisions, including its subscription businesses which saw a combined 6.3% rise. The company also expects an improvement of 80 to 100 basis points in its constant currency EBITDA margin, with equity free cash flow projected to be at least £2.7 billion.
CEO David Schwimmer highlighted a strong start to 2026, crediting both the performance of its multi-asset class trading venues and the high engagement with its trusted data. LSEG is actively executing its "LSEG Everywhere" strategy for distributing AI-ready data, with over 150 customers already connected or onboarding to its MCP server, and positive feedback on new AI tools within Workspace. The focus for 2026 remains on the rollout and adoption of these new services, which also include strong adoption of digital asset indices.
The group announced a new £3 billion share buyback program, with £1.1 billion already completed in the first quarter, and is on track to finish the full buyback by February 2027. This follows a previous successful buyback of £2.1 billion in 2025. LSEG also reported a significant jump in profits for the first half of 2025, with pre-tax profit rising to £991 million from £693 million year over year. The company increased its full-year dividend by 15.4% to 150 pence per share and the interim dividend by 15% to 47.0 pence per share. This financial strength and strategic focus on AI has positioned LSEG as a crucial data provider as AI adoption scales, challenging initial investor fears that AI would disrupt its business.
LSEG's robust performance and strategic investments into AI have garnered positive attention from analysts, with 16 out of 16 analysts maintaining a "buy" rating and a consensus target of 12,131 pence, considerably above the share price in early May. This contrasts with earlier concerns in February 2026 when LSEG's shares dropped nearly 13% due to fears that AI tools might erode its data and analytics business. However, analysts and LSEG itself argue that financial AI models require trusted and structured data, which LSEG is a primary supplier of, making it a beneficiary rather than a victim of increased AI adoption.
