VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
★ WIDE MOAT STOCKS & COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ★
PRICE: 0 CENTS
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Thomson Reuters Corporation
TRI · Toronto Stock Exchange
Weighted average of segment moat scores, combining moat strength, durability, confidence, market structure, pricing power, and market share.
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Overview
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a professional information and workflow software company with five reported segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Big 3 software/content segments (Legal, Corporates, Tax & Accounting) collectively represent roughly four-fifths of FY2024 revenue and are largely recurring subscriptions, supporting switching-cost and workflow lock-in dynamics. Reuters News relies on brand trust and governance commitments (Trust Principles) that matter to customers who need neutrality and reliability. Global Print is smaller and structurally pressured by digitization, but retains some unit-cost advantages from scale in book printing and fulfillment.
Primary segment
Legal Professionals
Market structure
Duopoly
Market share
—
HHI: —
Coverage
5 segments · 6 tags
Updated 2025-12-30
Segments
Legal Professionals
Legal research and legal workflow software
Revenue
40.1%
Structure
Duopoly
Pricing
strong
Share
—
Peers
Corporates
Corporate compliance, risk/fraud, tax/trade workflow, and e-invoicing automation
Revenue
25.3%
Structure
Oligopoly
Pricing
moderate
Share
—
Peers
Tax & Accounting Professionals
Tax research, tax preparation, and accounting workflow software for professionals
Revenue
16%
Structure
Oligopoly
Pricing
moderate
Share
—
Peers
Reuters News
Global newswire and multimedia news content licensing
Revenue
11.4%
Structure
Oligopoly
Pricing
moderate
Share
—
Peers
Global Print
Book printing, binding, and fulfillment services (including legal/tax publishing heritage)
Revenue
7.1%
Structure
Competitive
Pricing
weak
Share
—
Peers
Moat Claims
Legal Professionals
Legal research and legal workflow software
Revenue_share is computed from FY2024 segment revenues excluding eliminations/rounding; operating_profit_share is approximated using FY2024 segment adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate costs (both from the Feb 6, 2025 earnings release).
Data Workflow Lockin
Demand
Data Workflow Lockin
Strength: 5/5 · Durability: durable · Confidence: 4/5 · 1 evidence
Westlaw + Practical Law + CoCounsel sit inside daily legal research and drafting workflows; high recurring mix implies strong renewal inertia and switching friction.
Erosion risks
- Generative AI commoditizes baseline legal research and drafting
- Open-access legal data and cheaper aggregators improve
- Large customers negotiate aggressively or multi-home across tools
Leading indicators
- Legal Professionals organic growth vs peers
- CoCounsel attach rate to Westlaw / Practical Law
- Net retention / renewal rates for Legal subscriptions
Counterarguments
- LexisNexis and Bloomberg Law can match many workflows and invest heavily in AI features
- Firms can keep multiple research tools to reduce switching risk and pressure pricing
Corporates
Corporate compliance, risk/fraud, tax/trade workflow, and e-invoicing automation
Revenue_share is computed from FY2024 segment revenues excluding eliminations/rounding; operating_profit_share is approximated using FY2024 segment adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate costs (both from the Feb 6, 2025 earnings release).
Regulated Standards Pipe
Legal
Regulated Standards Pipe
Strength: 4/5 · Durability: durable · Confidence: 3/5 · 1 evidence
Regulatory-driven needs (e.g., KYC/AML, indirect tax, invoicing mandates) create ongoing demand and increase switching friction because workflows must remain audit-ready.
Erosion risks
- Dataset commoditization and price competition in RegTech
- Customers replace point solutions with ERP-suite native modules
- Regulatory changes shift required data sources or standards
Leading indicators
- Recurring revenue growth in Corporates
- Attach/expansion into adjacent workflow modules
- Win rates vs major RegTech incumbents
Counterarguments
- LexisNexis Risk Solutions and other incumbents have deep datasets and entrenched customer relationships
- Large enterprises can build internal verification pipelines and reduce vendor dependency
Tax & Accounting Professionals
Tax research, tax preparation, and accounting workflow software for professionals
Revenue_share is computed from FY2024 segment revenues excluding eliminations/rounding; operating_profit_share is approximated using FY2024 segment adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate costs (both from the Feb 6, 2025 earnings release).
Regulated Standards Pipe
Legal
Regulated Standards Pipe
Strength: 4/5 · Durability: durable · Confidence: 4/5 · 1 evidence
Tax rules change frequently; customers pay for up-to-date content and software that operationalizes changing regulations.
Erosion risks
- Lower-cost SaaS competitors and bundling pressure
- Automation/AI reduces perceived value of proprietary research content
- Customer consolidation among accounting firms increases buyer power
Leading indicators
- Tax & Accounting recurring revenue growth and retention
- Adoption of automation add-ons (e.g., document processing, workflow)
- Pricing realization vs churn in the professional base
Counterarguments
- Wolters Kluwer and Intuit have strong positions in professional tax software
- Switching is painful but not impossible, especially when firms migrate core practice systems
Reuters News
Global newswire and multimedia news content licensing
Revenue_share is computed from FY2024 segment revenues excluding eliminations/rounding; operating_profit_share is approximated using FY2024 segment adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate costs (both from the Feb 6, 2025 earnings release).
Brand Trust
Demand
Brand Trust
Strength: 5/5 · Durability: durable · Confidence: 4/5 · 1 evidence
Reuters Trust Principles are designed to preserve independence and freedom from bias, supporting a durable trust-based brand moat in news licensing.
Erosion risks
- Trust/reputation damage from perceived bias or major errors
- Customers reduce spend and treat newswires as a commodity input
- AI summarization and aggregation reduce demand for full wire feeds
Leading indicators
- Reuters News revenue growth and renewal trends
- Correction/retraction rates and public trust metrics
- Major contract wins/losses with media and financial platforms
Counterarguments
- AP and Bloomberg are strong alternatives for many buyers
- Some customers multi-source wires to reduce dependency and negotiate pricing
Global Print
Book printing, binding, and fulfillment services (including legal/tax publishing heritage)
Revenue_share is computed from FY2024 segment revenues excluding eliminations/rounding; operating_profit_share is approximated using FY2024 segment adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate costs (both from the Feb 6, 2025 earnings release).
Scale Economies Unit Cost
Supply
Scale Economies Unit Cost
Strength: 3/5 · Durability: medium · Confidence: 3/5 · 2 evidence
Large-scale printing and fulfillment operations can lower unit costs and improve service levels, but the segment faces secular print decline risk.
Erosion risks
- Structural shift from print to digital reduces volume
- Paper, labor, and freight cost volatility compresses margins
- Publishers diversify suppliers; low switching costs for many titles
Leading indicators
- Capacity utilization and books printed per year
- Mix of external customers vs internal demand
- On-time delivery and quality KPIs vs peers
Counterarguments
- Commercial printing is highly competitive and price-sensitive
- Scale can become a liability if volumes shrink faster than fixed costs can be reduced
Evidence
Recurring revenues increased 4% (97% of total...)... driven by Westlaw, CoCounsel, Practical Law...
A very high recurring share plus flagship workflow products supports lock-in and switching-cost dynamics.
Recurring revenues... (88% of total...)... driven... by... Indirect Tax, CLEAR...
Shows the segment is largely recurring and anchored by compliance-oriented products (e.g., CLEAR, Indirect Tax).
Recurring revenues increased 5% (87% of total...)... driven... by... UltraTax...
Supports that the segment is primarily subscription/recurring and anchored by workflow products that benefit from regulatory churn.
...obligations... to act... with integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Direct statement of governance principles underpinning Reuters' reputation and brand trust.
30M Books printed annually
Indicates meaningful production scale, supporting unit-cost advantages versus smaller print shops.
Showing 5 of 6 sources.
Risks & Indicators
Erosion risks
- Generative AI commoditizes baseline legal research and drafting
- Open-access legal data and cheaper aggregators improve
- Large customers negotiate aggressively or multi-home across tools
- Dataset commoditization and price competition in RegTech
- Customers replace point solutions with ERP-suite native modules
- Regulatory changes shift required data sources or standards
Leading indicators
- Legal Professionals organic growth vs peers
- CoCounsel attach rate to Westlaw / Practical Law
- Net retention / renewal rates for Legal subscriptions
- Recurring revenue growth in Corporates
- Attach/expansion into adjacent workflow modules
- Win rates vs major RegTech incumbents
Curation & Accuracy
This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).
Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.