TRI Q2: EPS Jumps 48% to $1.02, Print Sale to KKR Sharpens AI Focus

For investors, Thomson Reuters’ second quarter offered a compelling mix of growth, profitability, and strategic clarity. Diluted EPS vaulted 48% to $1.02 on the back of 10% organic growth in the Big 3, while the announcement of the Global Print sale to KKR eliminates a drag and refocuses the business on high-multiple, AI-driven subscription revenue. The 82% recurring revenue base and operating profit surge to 28% underline improving earnings quality.

Thomson Reuters delivered a strong second quarter of 2026, reporting 9% total revenue growth underpinned by robust performance in its core subscriptions and a surge in transactional activity. The standout metric was the 10% organic revenue growth in the company’s “Big 3” segments — Legal Professionals, Corporates, and Tax & Accounting — which highlights the pricing power and expanding demand for its premium content and workflow solutions. Recurring revenues, which account for 82% of the top line, rose 9%, while transactions revenues jumped 16%, more than offsetting a 3% decline in the legacy Global Print business. Currency contributed approximately 1% and net acquisitions added another 1%, indicating healthy underlying momentum. Operating profit leaped 28%, driven by revenue growth and other operating gains, though partly dampened by higher software amortization. Diluted earnings per share surged 48% to $1.02 from $0.69 a year earlier, delivering a clear upside surprise for investors.

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Diluted EPS vaulted 48% to $1.02 on the back of 10% organic growth in the Big 3, while the announcement of the Global Print sale to KKR eliminates a drag and refocuses the business on high-multiple, AI-driven subscription revenue.

The quarter was defined not just by financials but by strategic clarity. President and CEO Steve Hasker emphasized the priority of “deepening our leadership in trusted Fiduciary-Grade AI solutions,” directly tying results to the company’s technology roadmap. The announcement that Thomson Reuters has sold its Global Print business to KKR marks a watershed moment. By divesting a low-growth, asset-heavy segment, the company frees up capital and management focus to double down on AI-driven, recurring-revenue products. This print-to-digital pivot echoes broader industry trends but is particularly potent for a company whose brand is synonymous with trusted information. The proceeds and operational savings from the KKR deal can now be redirected toward accelerating the CoCounsel platform and the new Thomson Large Language Model (LLM).

The product milestones themselves are significant. CoCounsel Legal — an AI assistant designed for legal professionals — was released during or shortly before the quarter and has already seen “very strong” evaluation results for the first production-ready version of the proprietary Thomson LLM. These tools are not mere chatbots; they are engineered for “fiduciary-grade” outcomes, meaning accuracy, explainability, and reliability are paramount. In a market where competitors like LexisNexis and startups such as Harvey AI are racing to embed generative AI into legal workflows, Thomson Reuters’ deep content libraries and established trust give it a formidable moat. The 10% organic growth in the Big 3 suggests that clients are already rewarding this integration of AI into existing platforms like Westlaw, Practical Law, and the ONESOURCE suite.