Strong Top-Line Growth
Total company organic revenue grew 8% in Q1 2026 (up from 7% through 2025). The Big 3 segments delivered 9% organic growth, and management reaffirmed full-year organic growth guidance of 7.5%–8% with the Big 3 targeted at ~9.5%.
AI Adoption and Product Momentum
1 million users achieved for advanced AI features (through CoCounsel). Monthly CoCounsel SKUs quadrupled year-over-year; Westlaw Advantage users and deep research searches increased over 7x in the last 6 months; CoCounsel for tax and audit weekly conversations grew ~5x since September. Management highlighted progress on agentic products (Westlaw Advantage, CoCounsel Next) and proprietary Thomson LLM outperforming frontier models on legal tasks.
Profitability and Margin Expansion
Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to $881 million with a margin of 42.2% in Q1. Big 3 adjusted EBITDA was $829 million (up 9%) with a 46.7% margin. Company reiterated full-year adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of ~100 basis points to ~40%.
Earnings and Cash Flow Strength
Adjusted EPS was $1.23, up 10% from $1.12 a year ago. Free cash flow improved 19% to $332 million (from $277 million) in Q1, and management expects full-year free cash flow of approximately $2.1 billion.
Capital Allocation Actions
Company raised the annual dividend by 10% (fifth consecutive year) and repurchased $262 million of shares in Q1. Completed a $605 million return of capital and share consolidation, reducing share count by ~9 million shares (approximately 2%). Management reiterates balanced allocation with >$9 billion estimated capital capacity through 2028.
Segment-Level Strengths
Legal professionals (excluding government) accelerated to 11% organic growth in Q1 (from 9% in Q4); Corporate grew 9% organically (driven by Pagero, Confirmation, Westlaw, CoCounsel and international businesses); Tax, Audit & Accounting grew 10% organically driven by CoCounsel for tax/audit, Latin America, SafeSend and SurePrep.
Orders and AI-Enabled ACV
Organic orders (ACV) rose 6% in the quarter, supported by LSEG data agreement and agency business. Percentage of annualized contract value from Gen AI-enabled products reached 30% (up from 28% last quarter).