Thomson Reuters has raised its full-year organic revenue forecast to around 8%, up from its previous range of 7.5% to 8%. According to reports from Reuters, the company reported second-quarter revenue rose 9.5% to $1.95 billion, just above estimates of about $1.91 billion. The company also announced the sale of control of its global legal print business to KKR for roughly $500 million and a 51% stake in a joint venture, allowing Thomson Reuters to focus on its digital businesses and "fiduciary-grade AI" built for verification and auditing. For 2026, revenue for the company's three big business segments is forecast to rise by 9.5% to 10%, where it had been aiming for 9.5% growth.
The company's earnings per share excluding items rose to 99 cents in the second quarter, beating Wall Street EPS forecasts of 96 cents. As reported by Reuters, this performance helped calm AI-disruption concerns in the near term. The company recorded second-quarter net earnings of $448 million, or $1.02 a share, up from $313 million, or 69 cents, a year earlier. Growth benefited about 1% from foreign currency and 1% from net acquisitions and disposals. The company continues to anticipate its 2026 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin will expand 1 percentage point on 2025's 39.2% and that free cash flow will rise to $2.1 billion from last year's $1.95 billion.
Thomson Reuters recorded double-digit growth across all three major business segments in the latest quarter. Revenue from the legal professionals segment was up 10% to $772 million, revenue from the tax, audit and accounting professionals business increased 14% to $311 million, and revenue from the corporates arm climbed 12% to $537 million. The company's earnings per share excluding items rose to 99 cents in the second quarter, exceeding Wall Street EPS forecasts of 96 cents. Chief Financial Officer Gary E. Bischoping, Jr. noted that about 32% of Thomson Reuters underlying contract value relied on generative AI in the second quarter, up from 30% in the first quarter.
Thomson Reuters has been developing Thomson, a proprietary large language model built for professional work and trained on content from Westlaw, Practical Law, Checkpoint and Reuters. According to Reuters, early results showed Thomson performed well against frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. The company has been ramping up spending on artificial intelligence for its products, particularly those aimed at legal professionals. In May, the company said it was integrating Anthropic's Claude into its CoCounsel Legal artificial-intelligence tool. CEO Steve Hasker stated the company will focus on investing in Thomson and developing applications for legal, tax and accounting professions while exploring broader commercialization opportunities.
Shares in Thomson Reuters have underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which was up 12.35% year to date as of Tuesday, while Thomson Reuters shares were down 15.28% over the same period. As reported by Reuters, shares were 1% lower on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday following the quarterly results. Adam Sarhan of investment advisory firm 50 Park noted that the quarter should help calm AI-disruption concerns, as customers continue paying for Thomson Reuters core products despite AI changes in how legal and tax information is consumed. Hasker also reported that managing partners and general counsels at law firms are expressing reservations about working with startups and frontier model makers, worried over protection of client intellectual property.
