Thomson Reuters revenue rises, shares drop on investment costs
TRI•Thomson Reuters reported third-quarter revenue up 10% to $1.83 billion and adjusted earnings of 81 cents per share, while raising its 2026 organic revenue growth outlook to 8.5%-9.0%. Shares fell 7% as investors weighed higher AI spending and pressure on legal-division margins.
1. Revenue and outlook
Thomson Reuters reported third-quarter revenue of $1.83 billion, up 10%, and adjusted earnings per share of 81 cents. It raised its full-year 2026 organic revenue growth outlook to 8.5%-9.0%, from about 8%. Shares fell 7% to $113.46 on Nasdaq.
2. AI spending pressures margins
In the legal division, AI spending, $22 million in severance costs and the purchase of AI data and analytics platform Noetica contributed to a margin decline to 46.6% from 49%. Executives said they expected higher revenue from premium-tier pricing for AI agentic products to offset legal-division AI spending.
3. AI products and investment
Revenue at Reuters rose 12%, with transaction revenue in the news division up 56% to $44 million, boosted by generative AI licensing. Thomson Reuters said about 34% of its underlying contract value relied on generative AI in the third quarter, up from 32% in the second quarter and 24% a year earlier. The company said it had about $9 billion to $10 billion to invest and saw a pipeline of potential investments next year.
