Thomson Reuters beats revenue forecasts as fiduciary-grade AI demand surges among professionals

Thomson Reuters Reports Strong First-Quarter Revenue Growth

Thomson Reuters delivered first-quarter revenue of $2.09 billion, marking a 10% increase that surpassed Wall Street estimates of $2.04 billion1

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. The Toronto-based content and technology company saw gains across its "Big 3" business segments covering legal professionals, corporates, and tax and accounting services. Earnings per share excluding items reached $1.23, beating the forecast of $1.201

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. The results sent shares climbing 6.8% on Nasdaq, offering relief to investors after the stock had fallen nearly 30% earlier this year amid investor concerns about AI competition1

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Company Reaffirmed 2026 Financial Forecasts Amid AI Momentum

CEO Steve Hasker reaffirmed 2026 financial forecasts, maintaining guidance for revenue growth between 7.5% and 8%1

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. Hasker suggested the outlook could land at the higher end of expectations, according to Douglas Arthur, managing director at Huber Research Partners2

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. The company completed a $605 million return of capital to shareholders, reducing outstanding common shares by approximately 6.5 million, and repurchased 2.5 million common shares for about $262 million1

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. Chief Financial Officer Michael Eastwood revealed the company has about $9 billion of capital available for deals through 20281

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Fiduciary-Grade AI Gains Traction with Professional Clients

Hasker emphasized that professional clients are increasingly choosing what he termed "fiduciary-grade AI" over general-purpose AI models from competitors like Anthropic. "Across law, tax, audit and compliance, professionals accountable for high‑stakes outcomes are choosing our AI products, built to the standards their work demands," Hasker stated1

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. The CEO highlighted that consequences of AI hallucination are too severe for legal services and tax and accounting professionals, potentially resulting in regulatory fines, loss of reputation, and loss of license to practice1

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. The company employs 2,700 legal content experts and hundreds of accountants, combining their expertise with proprietary data to deliver verified, auditable results1

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AI-Integrated Tools Drive Contract Value Growth

Approximately 30% of Thomson Reuters' underlying contract value now relies on generative AI, up from 28% in the fourth quarter and 15% just six or seven quarters ago1

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. Douglas Arthur noted that "the market is saying the Anthropics of the world are going to disintermediate the professional-grade data companies, and the numbers that Thomson are showing say the opposite"2

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. The company's AI-powered legal assistant CoCounsel has reached one million users, and Thomson Reuters partners with leading AI labs including Anthropic to pair their models with proprietary data and system-level oversight1

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Proprietary AI-Based Data Solutions Strengthen Customer Loyalty

Arthur explained that Thomson Reuters delivers an integrated solution combining software with professional-grade data that few competitors can match. On the legal side, Westlaw contains data spanning several hundred years of legal cases that cannot be easily replicated through digital scraping2

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. "You can scrape judgments and written summaries of a case, but you can't scrape all the data and rulings and sub-rulings behind it," Arthur stated2

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. PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore observed that "if it can embed trusted, auditable AI deeper into daily workflows, it strengthens customer loyalty, protects pricing power and builds a more defensible long-term position"1

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Investor Outlook Improves Despite Ongoing Market Debates

The sector experienced a major valuation correction as AI focus shifted from positive to concerning for data companies. Arthur characterized the situation as moving "from overheated to now undervalued, and the truth is somewhere in between"2

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. He noted it's been "more a struggle for the stock than it has been for the numbers," as the stock had been trading as if the company would lower guidance and miss earnings2

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. The company is targeting nine to 10% organic growth with higher margins, and Arthur suggested that if these numbers continue, "the stock will find its own level"2

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. Revenue at news division Reuters rose 7% due to higher agency revenue and a price increase from its business with London Stock Exchange Group1

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