RELX PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Risk; Scientific, Technical & Medical; Legal; and Exhibitions. The Risk segment offers information-based analytics and decision tools that combine public and industry specific content with technology and algorithms to assist clients in …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Consistently Above PeersGross margin at 66.3% (top 18%) and operating margin at 31.6% (top 2%) indicate strong pricing power.
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.71), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
Key risks
Liquidity ConcernsLiquidity is concerning (score 0.05), raising questions about short-term obligations.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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RELX PLC PLC ranks #4 of 41
scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score — the top 10%.
The widest moat in the group is Copart, Inc. (CPRT)
at 81/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near RELX in Specialty Business Services
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 65
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 82
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 82
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 48
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 87
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
RELX PLC PLC (RELX) scores 75 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #4 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services, the top 10%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (87/100) and its weakest is Resilience (48/100).
How does RELX PLC PLC compare with other Specialty Business Services companies?
RELX PLC PLC ranks #4 of 41 scored companies in Specialty Business Services by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Business Services is Copart, Inc. (CPRT) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are Dolby Laboratories (DLB) at 75 just above it and Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI) at 73 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 40 companies in Specialty Business Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is RELX PLC PLC scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for RELX PLC PLC?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and RELX scores: Pricing Power (82), Cost Advantage (65), Customer Stickiness (82), Capital Efficiency (82), Resilience (48), Scale & Market Position (87). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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