Thomson Reuters Stock Falls 9% on Q3 Earnings: Why TRI Dropped
Thomson Reuters (TSX/Nasdaq: TRI) closed Tuesday at C$155.07, down C$15.34 or 9.00% from Monday’s C$170.41, the steepest fall among the large-cap Canadian names we track, on the day it reported third-quarter results. Revenue in that quarter grew 10% organically.
The TSX fell while New York rose
The S&P/TSX Composite finished at 35,532.28, down 0.75%, while the S&P 500 added 0.36% to 7,568.92 and the NASDAQ rose 0.83% to 25,372.01. Six of the eight sectors we track fell, measured with iShares TSX sector ETFs as proxies, and nine of the ten largest moves in our large-cap scan were declines. Thomson Reuters, Shopify and Fortis all reported Tuesday. Shopify fell 8.02% to C$200.19, and we went through that move in Shopify’s Q3 report.
Thomson Reuters grew 10% and guided to 8%
Revenues were $1,833 million, up 10%, with organic growth also 10%. Recurring revenue rose 9%, transactions revenue rose 27%, and the “Big 3” segments grew 10% organically: Legal Professionals $788 million (+9%), Corporates $544 million (+10%) and Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals $276 million (+10%). Reuters grew faster than any of the Big 3, revenue up 13% at constant currency and 12% organically, with adjusted EBITDA up 37% to $56 million and the margin at 24.3% from 19.9%, which the release attributes primarily to higher generative AI content licensing revenues. Figures are in US dollars, from the company’s own third-quarter 2026 earnings release.
The new information, on our read, is in the outlook. Thomson Reuters “expects its fourth-quarter 2026 organic revenue growth to be approximately 8% and its adjusted EBITDA margin to be approximately 42%”. An 8% fourth quarter is a step down from the 10% just delivered and from 9% organic growth across the first nine months. Third-quarter free cash flow fell 23% to $408 million, the adjusted EBITDA margin slipped 30 basis points to 35.5%, and net interest expense guidance went to roughly $190 million, the top of the August 5 range.
The flagship segment’s margin fell 240 basis points
Legal Professionals, the largest of the Big 3, grew revenue 9% organically while adjusted EBITDA rose only 4% to $368 million. The margin “decreased to 46.6% from 49.0%, reflecting higher technology and other costs”, the release says. The other two held closer to flat, leaving the Big 3 combined margin down 140 basis points at 40.3%.
The full-year guide looks raised. It is not.
Full-year organic revenue growth guidance appears to have gone up since August 5, from roughly 8.0% to a range of 8.5% to 9.0%. The two figures sit on different bases: August included Global Print, and November covers continuing operations, which excludes it. The company puts that transaction at “60 – 70 basis points accretive to its annual organic revenue growth rate”, and its own restatement shows it, with full-year 2025 organic growth appearing as 7% as reported and 8% revised.
The counterweight is substantial. Nine-month free cash flow is $1,467 million, up 7%, so the cash squeeze is one quarter rather than a trend, the full-year free cash flow guide holds at about $2.1 billion, unchanged from August 5, and “Big 3” segment guidance is unchanged too. Most of the 22% fall in operating profit, to $402 million, is a comparison artefact, which the company attributes “primarily” to a prior-year gain on the sale of its remaining stake in Elite. The cash return is unchanged: a quarterly dividend of $0.655 per share is payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 18, part of the $2.62 annualized rate set in February 2026, a 10% increase that was the 33rd consecutive year of increases and the fifth consecutive 10% raise.
Reported earnings fell while adjusted earnings rose
Diluted EPS under IFRS was $0.78, down 17% from $0.94. Adjusted EPS was $0.81, up 14% from $0.71. Both describe the same three months, and the distance between them is largely that Elite gain sitting in the prior-year base. Which line a reader picks up decides whether this quarter reads as a 17% decline or a 14% advance, which is exactly what our guide to how to read a company’s financials is for.
Technology and gold led the decliners
Technology was the worst sector at -1.63%, with the gold sector down 1.56% and materials 1.38% as December gold fell 0.97% to US$3,930.90. Kinross fell 3.20% and Barrick 2.20%. Utilities led at +0.42%, on the day Fortis reported a 4% dividend raise, while real estate lagged at -0.58%, with the Government of Canada 10-year yield at 3.74% on November 2 and 49% odds of a 25 basis point hike priced into one-month CORRA futures for December 9. Energy was flat at +0.03%, with NYMEX WTI’s December contract at US$96.12 in the settlement window, down 0.43% from Monday on Yahoo Finance trade data.
What comes next
Wednesday brings Statistics Canada’s September merchandise trade figures at 8:30 a.m. ET and a heavy earnings slate: Cenovus, Nutrien, Manulife and Brookfield Renewable. December 9 carries more weight, when the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve both decide.
Disclaimer: The content on bestcanadianstocks.ca is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Index levels, sector returns and single-stock closes are the November 3, 2026 Toronto and New York closes. The Thomson Reuters closing price of C$155.07, down 9.00% from a previous close of C$170.41, and Shopify’s C$200.19, down 8.02%, were each confirmed independently against StockAnalysis at the 4:00 p.m. EST close and against the Globe and Mail ticker table, because wire copy published mid-afternoon carried pre-close quotes of -7.51% and -7.03% for Thomson Reuters. Sector performance is measured with iShares TSX sector ETFs as proxies. Our movers scan covers 40 large-cap Canadian names rather than the whole index, and every claim about decliners is scoped to it. All Thomson Reuters financial, segment, guidance and dividend figures come from the company’s own third-quarter 2026 earnings release dated November 3, 2026, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to its Form 6-K, in US dollars, with Global Print reported as discontinued operations and prior-year figures revised to conform. The crude price is the NYMEX WTI December contract’s settlement window, the volume-weighted price of trades from 2:28 to 2:30 p.m. ET rebuilt from one-minute trade data, credited to Yahoo Finance trade data. The gold figure is the December gold futures contract. The Bank of Canada policy rate and the benchmark Government of Canada 10-year yield come from the Bank of Canada; that bond yield series is published with a one-day lag, so the latest available reading is dated November 2. Market pricing for the December 9 Bank of Canada decision is derived from one-month CORRA futures settlements on the Montreal Exchange. Earnings dates and the Statistics Canada release date come from our own market calendar.
