Thomson Reuters TRI-T reported a double-digit first-quarter revenue rise on Tuesday, boosted by gains in its “Big 3” business segments of legal professionals, corporates and tax, and audit and accounting, lifting its shares in early trading.
The Toronto-based content and technology company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue forecast of a rise of between 7.5 per cent and 8 per cent as it said customers were choosing its artificial intelligence products, which Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker described as “fiduciary-grade AI.”
“Across law, tax, audit and compliance, professionals accountable for high-stakes outcomes are choosing our AI products, built to the standards their work demands – grounded in authoritative content, designed and tested by our domain experts, and created to produce results that can be verified and audited under real-world scrutiny,” Hasker said in a statement.
Shares in Thomson Reuters, which have fallen by nearly 30 per cent this year, underperforming a rise of 5.2 per cent in the S&P 500 index, rose by more than 5 per cent at the open on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The stock has been hit by fears over the challenge that AI newcomers, including Anthropic, present to companies such as Thomson Reuters, which sparked a wider selloff in software, data and professional services shares earlier this year.
Hasker highlighted the role of Thomson Reuters in delivering AI to professionals such as lawyers, tax preparers or court officials in an interview following the results.
“The consequences of error and hallucination are too much to bear,” Hasker said, adding that to get something wrong would result in fines. “They result in loss of reputation, loss of license to practice, loss of clients and client relationships. And that’s where fiduciary-grade AI kicks in,” he said.
Hasker cited the 2,700 legal experts on staff creating legal content and hundreds of accountants ready to answer questions and proprietary data as major advantages for clients to rely on Thomson Reuters services over those of frontier AI models.
First quarter revenue, EPS exceed forecasts
“Thomson Reuters has done enough to calm the immediate AI concerns,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said, adding: “The company appears well placed for the AI era, but the focus remains on execution.”
“If it can embed trusted, auditable AI deeper into daily workflows, it strengthens customer loyalty, protects pricing power and builds a more defensible long-term position,” he said.
Thomson Reuters chief financial officer Michael Eastwood said in an interview that generative AI was responsible for about 30 per cent of the company’s underlying contract value, which breaks down a contract’s total value, in the first quarter, compared with 28 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Thomson Reuters said its first-quarter revenue rose 10 per cent to US$2.09-billion, surpassing estimates of US$2.04-billion. It said earnings per share excluding items rose to US$1.23. Wall Street had forecast earnings per share of US$1.20.
Revenue at Reuters, Thomson Reuters’ news division, rose 7 per cent as a result of higher agency revenue and a price increase from its business with the London Stock Exchange Group.
Thomson Reuters also said it completed a US$605-million return of capital to shareholders, reducing outstanding common shares by about 6.5 million. It also repurchased 2.5 million of common shares for about US$262-million.
Eastwood said the company had about US$9-billion of capital to spend on deals through 2028.
Shopify Inc. SHOP-T -9.02%decreaseSHOP-T -9.02%decrease topped analyst expectations with double-digit revenue growth in its first quarter, but its shares fell in premarket trading as it recorded a net loss as a result of its equity investments in other companies and projected slowing revenue and profit-margin growth in the current quarter.
The Ottawa-based company, which provides tools for businesses to run their stores online, said its revenue was US$3.1-billion for the quarter ended March 31, up 34 per cent from the same period last year, beating analyst expectations of $3-billion.
Gross merchandise value (GMV) – thetotal sales through its platform– increased nearly 35 per cent to US$101-billion over the quarter, compared to an analyst consensus of US$98.7-billion.
This represents the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of GMV growth at a rate of more than 30 per cent, Royal Bank of Canada analyst Paul Treiber said in a note to investors Tuesday morning.
Shopify reported a net loss of US$581-million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of US$682-million a year earlier, owing to a US$941-million loss on its equity investments, marked to market, net of taxes.
Tech stocks were once again hit during the quarter on concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on software, as well as geopolitical turmoil.
Excluding the impact of those equity investments, the company’s net income was US$360-million.
Shopify’s stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 19 per cent from the beginning of the year before markets opened Tuesday morning.
Shopify Inc
The company’s share price fell 8 per cent in premarket trading, as it lowered its second-quarter guidance compared to estimates it provided last quarter.
Shopify is now projecting revenue growth in the high twenties, while it had guided for growth in the low thirties three months ago. It is expecting second-quarter gross profit growth in the mid-twenties, compared to previous guidance in the high twenties.
However, these estimates came in mostly above what analysts were expecting, according to Mr. Treiber.
A surge in Somali piracy is fueling fears of a Red Sea “security vacuum” across the region as analysts warn of a revived maritime crime playbook, now linked to Iran-backed Houthis.
The warning follows a May 2 report from Yemen’s coast guard that armed men hijacked an oil tanker off Shabwa and steered it toward the Gulf of Aden, and the vessel has since been located with recovery efforts underway, Reuters reported.
“There is a fundamental shift in the maritime center of gravity amid a new phase of maritime instability in the region,” Ido Shalev, chief operating officer at RTCOM Defense, told Fox News Digital.
“Somali and Houthi-linked groups are teaming up — using skiffs and new tech to strike ships with coordination not seen in a decade — while Saudi crude rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz has created a ‘target-rich environment for them,’” he added.
Members of the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) sit on a speed boat as they patrol the Gulf of Aden waters off the coast of Bosaso in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Somalia. (Abdirahman Hussein/Reuters)
“There is an opportunistic alignment, with the Houthis providing geopolitical cover and advanced GPS and surveillance, and Somali groups providing the boots on the ground or skiffs on the water,” Shalev said.
With the MT Eureka taken off Shabwa, Shalev, a former Israeli naval officer, suggested what he called the “Somali model” had returned “with a vengeance.”
“This is a transactional collaboration, and in the exact area where the Houthis are active and would like to cause damage and support their IRGC sponsor,” he said before describing how pirates would hijack the entire ship and cargo, taking them to a secure anchorage “like Qandala or Garacad.”
“They then demand a ransom for the entire package: the vessel, the tens of millions of dollars in oil, and the crew,” he said.
Somali and Houthi-linked groups are teaming up using skiffs and new tech to strike ships with coordination not seen in a decade. (Jason R. Zalasky/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
The surge in regional risk is also exacerbated, Shalev said, by the volatility of the Strait of Hormuz. As Iranian-backed threats persist in the Persian Gulf, global energy flows are shifting.
“Due to the closure and instability of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels of crude per day through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu,” the former Israeli naval officer said.
“This creates a target-rich environment in a sector that was previously a backbound route. With Brent Crude prices surging — peaking near $115/bbl this quarter — the prize for a successful hijacking has never been higher.”
The risk level in waters off Somalia was recently upgraded to “substantial” following a wave of hijackings and attempted attacks that began April 21, according to Windward AI and alerts from the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
At least three vessels were hijacked within days: a Somali-flagged fishing boat on April 21, followed by the Palau-flagged tanker Honour 25 (IMO 1099735), and, by April 26, a general cargo ship seized and redirected to Garacad.
The surge in regional piracy risk is exacerbated by the volatility of the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian-backed threats persist in the Persian Gulf and global energy flows are shifting. (Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Cassandra Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Shalev, who served as the lead architect for Nigeria’s “Falcon Eye” project — a surveillance system that successfully reduced piracy in those waters to 0% — warned that the distraction of global warships is being exploited.
“Because international naval forces are preoccupied with missile threats, a ‘security vacuum’ has now opened in the region, so pirates can travel vast distances in skiffs to board vulnerable commercial vessels,” he said.
“Somali piracy, which had been suppressed for years, has seen this sharp resurgence that also correlates perfectly with the Houthi crisis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Shalev said.
The Red Sea carries 12% to 15% of global trade and about 30% of container traffic, moving over $1 trillion in goods annually, including oil and LNG, according to reports.
“The current crisis proves that you cannot ‘patrol’ your way out of this; you have to see the threat before it ever reaches the ship,” Shalev said.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. factory orders for March. The Street is projecting a rise of 0.5 per cent from February.
(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey for April
(3:30 p.m. ET) BoC Governor Tiff Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers appear before the House Standing Committee on Finance
Earnings include: Cargojet Inc.; Ero Copper Corp.; Gibson Energy Inc.; InterRent REIT; Palantir Technologies Inc.; RB Global Inc.; RioCan REIT; TMX Group Ltd.
Tuesday May 5
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for March.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade deficit for March.
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P global services PMI for April.
(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P global services/composite PMI for April.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM services PMI for April.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings & Labor Survey for March.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. new home sales for March.
Earnings include: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; Arista Networks Inc.; Cameco Corp.; Colliers International Group Inc.; Dream Industrial REIT; First Capital Realty Inc.; IA Financial Corp. Inc.; Iamgold Corp.; Intact Financial Corp.; Pan American Silver Corp.; PayPal Holdings Inc.; Shopify Inc.; SSR Mining Inc.; Suncor Energy Inc.; Topaz Energy Corp.; Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp.
Wednesday May 6
Euro zone’s services and composite PMI
(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for April.
(10 a.m. ET) Canada’s Ivey PMI for April.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for April.
(4:15 p.m. ET) BoC Governor Tiff Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers appear before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Commerce & the Economy.
Earnings include: Applovin Corp.; Arm Holdings PLC; Artemis Gold Inc.; Atco Ltd.; B2Gold Corp.; Canadian Utilities Ltd.; CVS Health Corp.; Energy Fuels Inc.; Fortis Inc.; Great-West Lifeco Inc.; Hut 8 Mining Corp.; Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.; Kraft Heinz Co.; Linamar Corp.; Loblaw Companies Ltd.; Lundin Gold Inc.; Marriott International Inc.; Novo Nordisk A/S; Nutrien Ltd.; Restaurant Brands International Inc.; Sun Life Financial Inc.; Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd.; Tourmaline Oil Corp.; Uber Technologies Inc.; Walt Disney Co.; Warner Bros Discovery Inc.; WSP Global Inc.
Thursday May 7
China’s foreign reserves
Euro zone’s retail sales
Germany’s factory orders
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of May 2. Estimate is 200,000, up 11,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. productivity for Q1.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. construction spending for March.
(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for March.
Earnings include: Aritzia Inc.; Baytex Energy Corp.; BCE Inc.; Canadian Apartment Properties REIT; Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.; Chartwell Retirement Residences; Definity Financial Corp.; Gilead Sciences Inc.; IGM Financial Corp.; Maple Leaf Foods Inc.; McDonald’s Corp.; Open Text Corp.; Pembina Pipeline Corp.; Premium Brands Holdings Corp.; Quebecor Inc.; Shell ADR; Skeena Resources Ltd.; Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
Friday May 8
China’s aggregate yuan financing, new yuan loans and trade surplus
Japan’s real cash earnings and services and composite PMI
Germany’s industrial production and trade surplus
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for April. The Street is expecting a flat reading month-over-month with the unemployment rate remaining 6.7 per cent and average hourly wages up 4.6 per cent year-over-year.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. nonfarm payrolls for April. Consensus is a gain of 60,000 jobs from March with the unemployment rate staying at 4.3 per cent and average hourly wages up 0.3 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for May.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for March.
Earnings include: Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.; Aya Gold & Silver Inc.; CES Energy Solutions Corp.; Emera Inc.; Enbridge Inc.; Orla Mining Ltd.; Pepetua Resources Corp.; Toyota Motors Corp.
TTCD (S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Discretionary Index) has shown short-term weakness, but remains positive on very near-term momentum (5–20d) and negative on medium-term trend (100–200d).
The decline is sector-driven (not single-stock) — reflects pressure across discretionary names (retail, autos, apparel).
Macro sensitivity (rates + consumer spending) is the primary driver.
No evidence of a single event shock; movement is broad-based re-pricing.
Technicals suggest range-bound / early consolidation, not structural breakdown.
