Thomson Reuters delivered a strong financial performance in the third quarter of 2026, reporting a 10% increase in organic revenue as demand for its legal, tax, accounting, and corporate technology products continued to grow. The company credited customer adoption of its artificial intelligence offerings, including CoCounsel, as an important source of momentum. The results highlight how established professional information providers are turning AI investment into commercial opportunities while facing growing expectations around profitability and long term returns.
Thomson Reuters Reports Revenue of $1.83 Billion
In its financial results released on November 3, 2026, Thomson Reuters reported total third quarter revenue of approximately $1.83 billion, compared with $1.66 billion in the same period a year earlier. That represented a 10% increase in reported revenue and a 10% increase on an organic basis. Organic revenue growth excludes the effects of currency movements and acquisitions or disposals, giving investors a clearer view of performance from the company’s existing operations.
The results reflected growth across the company’s three largest professional business segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, and Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals. Together, these divisions generated 10% organic revenue growth and represented approximately 88% of total company revenue during the quarter.
For businesses that depend on accurate information, reliable research, and efficient workflows, professional technology is becoming an increasingly important part of daily operations. Lawyers need to review large collections of documents, accountants must interpret complex financial rules, and corporate teams regularly assess regulatory and commercial risks. Thomson Reuters serves these customers through established information platforms and specialized software. Its latest results suggest that customers are continuing to spend on tools designed to help them complete this work more efficiently.
CoCounsel Adoption Supports Demand for AI Powered Legal Technology
Artificial intelligence was a central theme in the company’s latest performance. Thomson Reuters has been expanding CoCounsel, its AI powered professional assistant, across legal, tax, audit, and accounting workflows. The platform is designed to help professionals work with information, conduct research, review documents, and complete tasks that traditionally require substantial time and attention.
For legal professionals, the appeal is practical. Reviewing lengthy contracts, searching case law, comparing legal documents, and preparing research summaries can consume hours of a working day. AI tools can assist with these activities by helping users locate relevant information and organize their work. The professional remains responsible for checking the material, applying legal judgment, and deciding how the information should be used.
Thomson Reuters leadership reported encouraging customer engagement with the next generation of CoCounsel Legal. The company also highlighted the recent launch of its next generation CoCounsel Tax, Audit and Accounting offering. These developments indicate that its AI strategy is extending beyond legal research into other professional markets where accuracy, documentation, and regulatory knowledge are essential.
The commercial opportunity is significant, but adoption depends on more than impressive demonstrations. Professional customers need dependable results, secure handling of sensitive information, transparent limitations, and integration with existing systems. A lawyer cannot safely rely on an AI generated case citation without verifying that the authority exists and supports the relevant argument. An accountant must also confirm that an automated interpretation reflects current rules and the facts of the particular client situation.
Growth Across Legal, Corporate, and Accounting Businesses
Legal Professionals
Thomson Reuters’ Legal Professionals segment generated approximately $788 million in third quarter revenue, an increase of 9% from the prior year. Organic growth was also 9%, supported primarily by Westlaw and CoCounsel Legal. Recurring revenue, which accounted for 97% of the segment’s total, increased by 9% on an organic basis.
This performance demonstrates the continuing importance of subscription based legal information and research services. Law firms and legal departments depend on access to current case law, legislation, regulatory information, and practical research tools. AI capabilities can add value to these established services, but the underlying quality and reliability of the information remain central to customer trust.
Corporates
The Corporates segment recorded approximately $544 million in revenue, growing 11% compared with the third quarter of 2025. Organic revenue growth reached 10%. Recurring revenue increased by 8%, with contributions from CoCounsel Legal, Pagero, CLEAR, and the company’s international businesses.
Corporate customers face a broad range of responsibilities, including compliance, financial operations, risk assessment, and regulatory reporting. Technology that brings trusted information and practical workflows together can help organizations manage these responsibilities. The segment’s results suggest that demand is extending across several business needs rather than relying on one product category alone.
Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals
The Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals segment generated approximately $276 million in revenue, representing an 11% increase. Organic revenue growth was 10%, supported by tax and audit products, including GoSystem, CoCounsel Tax, Audit and Accounting, and Cloud Audit Suite.
Accounting and tax professionals work under demanding deadlines, particularly during reporting and filing periods. Their responsibilities require careful attention to changing regulations, supporting documents, and client records. AI assisted tools may help organize information and reduce repetitive work, but professional review remains essential. For customers in these fields, the strongest technology is not simply the fastest system. It is the system that helps them work efficiently without compromising accuracy.
Revenue Growth Comes With Higher Technology Costs
Although the revenue figures were encouraging, the financial report also showed why investors are examining the cost of AI development. Thomson Reuters reported adjusted EBITDA of $651 million, up 10% from $593 million a year earlier. However, its adjusted EBITDA margin declined slightly to 35.5%, compared with 35.8% in the prior year period.
The Legal Professionals segment also experienced margin pressure. Its adjusted EBITDA increased by 4% to $368 million, while its margin declined to 46.6% from 49%. The company attributed the pressure to higher technology and other costs. These expenses reflect the investment required to develop, maintain, and expand professional software and AI capabilities.
Reported operating profit fell 22% to $402 million, while diluted earnings per share declined to 78 cents from 94 cents. These figures require context. The prior year period included an operating gain related to the sale of the company’s remaining minority interest in the Elite business. Higher software amortization in the current period also affected the comparison.
At the same time, adjusted earnings per share increased 14% to 81 cents, compared with 71 cents a year earlier. Adjusted measures exclude certain items and are intended to provide another view of underlying operating performance. Investors generally examine both reported and adjusted figures because each highlights a different part of the company’s financial position.
Thomson Reuters Raises Its Full Year 2026 Outlook
Following the third quarter performance, Thomson Reuters updated its full year 2026 financial outlook. The revised guidance excludes the Global Print business following the completion of the sale of a 51% stake to investment funds advised by KKR on October 1, 2026. The transaction generated gross proceeds of approximately $500 million.
The company now expects total revenue growth of approximately 9.5% and organic revenue growth in the range of 8.5% to 9.0% for 2026. It also expects an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 39%. The revenue growth and margin guidance for its three largest professional segments remained unchanged from the outlook communicated in August.
The updated forecast gives investors a clearer picture of the company’s expectations after the Global Print transaction. It also reflects management’s confidence in continued demand for its professional products. However, guidance is not a guarantee. Customer spending, economic conditions, competition, currency movements, and the cost of developing new technology can all influence the final results.
Why AI Is Becoming Important to Professional Services
The growth of CoCounsel reflects a wider change in how professional services companies approach artificial intelligence. Legal research, tax preparation, auditing, and corporate compliance involve large amounts of structured and unstructured information. Generative AI can help professionals search, summarize, compare, and organize that material, potentially reducing time spent on routine tasks.
Yet professional environments place unusually high demands on accuracy and accountability. A convincing answer is not necessarily a correct answer. AI systems can misunderstand context, overlook important exceptions, or produce unsupported information. This makes access to trusted professional content particularly valuable. It also means that technology providers must demonstrate how their products protect customer information and support human review.
For law firms and corporate legal departments considering AI adoption, practical evaluation should include several questions. Does the platform provide reliable sources? Can users verify its conclusions? Does it protect confidential documents? Can it fit into existing research and document management processes? Does it save enough time to justify its subscription cost? These questions are more useful than judging a product solely by the number of features it advertises.
Thomson Reuters has an established position in professional information services, giving it an opportunity to connect AI tools with content and workflows that customers already use. Its challenge will be to maintain that trust while competing with technology companies and newer AI focused providers.
What the Results Mean for the Company’s Future
The third quarter report presents a business experiencing meaningful demand while investing heavily in its next stage of development. Strong organic revenue growth, higher adjusted earnings per share, and an improved full year revenue outlook are positive signals. At the same time, lower margins in important areas show that developing AI products requires substantial resources.
For customers, the next phase will be measured by whether these tools produce dependable improvements in everyday work. For investors, the central question is whether growing adoption and premium AI services can generate enough additional revenue to support development costs and improve profitability over time.
We should also consider the broader effect on professional work. AI is unlikely to remove the need for experienced lawyers, accountants, auditors, and researchers. Their expertise remains necessary to interpret evidence, understand individual circumstances, manage risk, and take responsibility for decisions. The more realistic opportunity is a working relationship in which technology handles selected information intensive tasks while professionals provide judgment and oversight.
A Strong Quarter With Important Questions Ahead
Thomson Reuters’ November 3 results show that demand for professional technology and AI supported services is contributing to measurable business growth. The company’s 10% organic revenue increase, strong performance across its largest business segments, and raised full year outlook provide evidence of continued customer interest in its products.
However, revenue growth is only one measure of long term success. The company must also demonstrate that its AI investments can support sustainable margins, retain customer confidence, and deliver clear value across legal, tax, accounting, and corporate markets. The coming quarters will help reveal whether CoCounsel and related offerings can maintain their momentum as competition intensifies.
For now, the results offer a clear message about the professional technology market: organizations are increasingly willing to invest in AI when it addresses real work, connects with trusted information, and supports the decisions people must make. Thomson Reuters has made progress on that opportunity. Its next challenge is turning that progress into durable financial performance.
Readers can explore the company’s professional information and technology services and review its investor relations announcements and financial reports for further details.
