TRI vs VERX: How Thomson Reuters and Vertex Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: VERX is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. TRI and VERX share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined TRI and VERX exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Thomson Reuters Corporation is a Canadian-domiciled information services company headquartered in Toronto that sells research, workflow software and data to lawyers, accountants, tax professionals, corporate departments and governments. Its three core segments, known internally as the "Big 3" and about 83% of revenue, are Legal Professionals (Westlaw, Practical Law, CoCounsel), Corporates (legal, tax and trade compliance software for in-house teams) and Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals (ONESOURCE, UltraTax, Checkpoint). It also owns Reuters, the global news agency, and a Global Print business it is now moving into a joint venture with KKR. Roughly 80% of revenue is recurring subscription revenue, which is why the company has compounded earnings and raised its dividend every year for more than three decades. The Woodbridge Company, the Thomson family holding vehicle, owns about 68% to 70% of the shares, so TRI is a controlled company with a long-term owner rather than a widely held one.

Full TRI guide

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX) is a global provider of indirect tax software, content, and services that help large and mid-size enterprises calculate, collect, and report taxes such as sales and consumer use tax, value added tax (VAT), and payroll-related indirect taxes. Its core O Series platform plugs into the ERP, e-commerce, procurement, and billing systems that big companies already run (SAP, Oracle, Workday, Salesforce and others) and applies a continuously updated database of tax rules across thousands of jurisdictions so that the correct tax is applied on every transaction. Founded in 1978 and public since 2020, Vertex serves roughly 4,900 direct customers, many of them large multinationals, and earns the bulk of its revenue from recurring software subscriptions plus related services, with annual recurring revenue per customer of about $137,867 as of late 2025.

Full VERX guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• TRI drivers: AI products built on proprietary content; Big 3 organic acceleration.
• VERX drivers: Recurring, mission-critical tax compliance; Cloud migration and higher-value expansion.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The dominant risk is AI substitution: if general-purpose agents from firms like Anthropic and OpenAI can perform enough legal drafting, research and financial analysis to displace paid seats, the subscription base and its pricing power both come under pressure, and February 2026 showed how violently the market will reprice that possibility. For VERX, vertex shares fell roughly 70% over the year to mid-2026, driven by deteriorating key performance indicators in late 2025, extended sales cycles, and reduced growth and margin expectations, so momentum and sentiment have been sharply negative.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick TRI if you believe its drivers more; VERX if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the TRI and VERX guides.

TRI. Thomson Reuters reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of about $1.95 billion, up 9%, with adjusted EPS of $0.99 and free cash flow of $727 million, and raised full-year guidance to roughly 8% organic growth on about $8.07 billion of revenue. At a share price near $100 the stock carries a trailing P/E in the mid-20s and a forward P/E near 21, well below the premium multiple it held before the February 2026 AI selloff. Figures are approximate, drawn from the company's Q2 2026 release and market data as of early August 2026, and the annualized dividend of $2.62 per share works out to a yield in the mid-2% range at that price.

VERX. As of July 2026, Vertex traded at a market cap of about $2.0 billion after losing roughly 70% of its value over the prior year, even though revenue kept growing and adjusted EBITDA was rising. The stock now trades on a much lower revenue multiple than it did at its peak, reflecting reset growth and margin expectations. Whether that repricing is an opportunity or a warning depends on whether growth stabilizes and the 2026 cost plan delivers the promised savings.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): TRI shows revenue (ttm) ~$7.8B, q2 2026 revenue ~$1.95B, +9% (organic +8%), adjusted ebitda margin (q2 2026) ~38.1%, net income (ttm) ~$1.7B; VERX shows market cap ~$2.0 billion, revenue (ttm) ~$775 million, fy2025 revenue ~$752 million, fy2026 revenue guidance ~$823 to $831 million.

TRI and VERX are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined TRI and VERX exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.