Thomson Reuters posts 10% third-quarter revenue growth after Global Print sale
Thomson Reuters reported Q3 2026 revenue of $1.83 billion on Nov. 3 and reset its 2026 outlook after selling a majority of Global Print.
Thomson Reuters reported third-quarter 2026 results on November 3, 2026, in a release filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Revenue rose 10% to $1.83 billion from $1.66 billion a year earlier. The company also reset its full-year 2026 outlook to exclude Global Print, the print unit, a 51% stake in which it sold to capital accounts advised by KKR on October 1.
For business readers, the filing shows how the company sold a majority stake in its print unit while keeping a 49% stake in it and a royalty on its Professional revenues. All figures below are in U.S. dollars, as reported.
Third-quarter revenue and profit
Organic revenue growth, also 10%, matched the headline rise. The segments the company calls its Big 3 grew 10% on the same basis.
The Big 3 are Legal Professionals, Corporates, and Tax, Audit & Accounting Professionals. Together they brought in $1,608 million, or 88% of total revenue. Recurring revenue rose 9% to $1,618 million, while transactions revenue rose 27% to $215 million, with 23% organic growth.
Operating profit fell 22% to $402 million from $517 million. The filing attributes the decline mainly to a $161 million gain booked a year earlier on the sale of the company's stake in Elite. That gain was on the sale of the remaining minority interest in Elite, an equity-method investment.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 10% to $651 million, with a margin of 35.5%, compared with 35.8% a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share rose to $0.81 from $0.71, while diluted EPS fell to $0.78 from $0.94.
The company generated $599 million in operating cash flow and $408 million in free cash flow in the quarter. It returned $512 million to shareholders, including $238 million in buybacks and $274 million in dividends.
How the Global Print sale is structured
Thomson Reuters sold 51% of Global Print to capital accounts advised by KKR. The sale closed on October 1, 2026. The company received about $500 million in gross proceeds and kept a 49% equity interest in the joint venture, now called Westbridge Print.
Global Print supplies legal and tax information worldwide in print and digital book formats, and it also offers commercial printing to book publishers. It generated $490 million in revenue in 2025, nearly a quarter of the total. Its sales are expected to decline each year as customers shift to online products.
Westbridge Print pays Thomson Reuters a royalty of 20% of its Professional revenues, starting in the fourth quarter of 2026. The royalty is for the license to distribute the company's intellectual property. The filing says Professional revenues make up roughly 85% to 90% of the venture's total.
Westbridge Print, which serves legal and tax professionals across 13 countries, will also reimburse Thomson Reuters for certain transition services under a multi-year agreement. Thomson Reuters has agreed to provide certain financial support designed to give KKR a minimum return on its equity investment in certain circumstances.
When the deal was announced on July 14, 2026, Reuters reported that Global Print's sales were expected to decline as customers moved online. Chief executive Steve Hasker said the sale would give the unit the investment and independence to operate as a standalone business, and would sharpen the company's focus on legal, tax, audit and compliance industries.
Updated 2026 outlook and share buybacks
Excluding Global Print, Thomson Reuters now expects total revenue growth of about 9.5% in 2026 and organic revenue growth of 8.5% to 9.0%. It expects an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 39%, compared with 37.4% in 2025. The company also raised its expected net interest expense to about $190 million.
The company says its Big 3 outlook is unchanged, at 9.5% to 10.0% organic growth, with a margin up 100 basis points from 2025. That outlook was communicated on August 5, 2026. It expects the Global Print transaction to be roughly neutral to the total adjusted EBITDA margin and to add 60 to 70 basis points to annual organic revenue growth. For the fourth quarter, it expects organic revenue growth of about 8% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 42%.
A $600 million share repurchase program, announced in February 2026, was completed in July 2026. The company repurchased 6.2 million common shares for $600 million under an amended normal course issuer bid to complete the program.
“After the sale, Thomson Reuters keeps a 49% stake in Westbridge Print and a 20% royalty on its Professional revenues.”
Management comments and the fourth quarter
Hasker said the company was pleased with its third-quarter momentum, pointing to revenue growth and margins ahead of earlier expectations. He also described customer engagement with the next generation of CoCounsel Legal as very encouraging.
Thomson Reuters expects to record a pre-tax gain on the Global Print transaction in the fourth quarter of 2026, the same quarter in which the first royalty payments begin.
After the sale, Thomson Reuters keeps a 49% stake in Westbridge Print and a 20% royalty on its Professional revenues.
