Weak dollar pushes Wolters Kluwer's revenue 3% lower in first quarter (updated)

Wolters Kluwer

06/05/2026 07:22

Recasts on stock performance, analyst comments and reference to Anthropic's AI tool launch in paragraphs 1-2 and 5-7.

By Leo Marchandon

May 6 (Reuters) - Wolters Kluwer's WLSNc.AS shares fell more than 9% on Wednesday as concerns over AI competition, triggered by Anthropic's new tools for the financial services industry, overshadowed the Dutch software maker's broadly in-line first-quarter results.

Wolters Kluwer specializes in tools for professionals in healthcare, tax, legal and accounting sectors, which J.P. Morgan says face competition from new AI entrants and customers deploying their own artificial intelligence tools.

The company reported a 3% drop in first-quarter revenue caused by a 7% hit from the weak U.S. dollar. Revenue grew 4% when excluding the currency impact and 5% organically, thanks to continued strength in cloud software revenue, it said.

In the quarterly update, the company highlighted its exposure to currency swings, saying a 1-cent move in the euro/dollar rate rippled through to a roughly 4.5 euro cent change in adjusted earnings per share.

J.P. Morgan said in a note to investors that it remained cautious on the stock because of the company's greater exposure to software and workflows, which risk being replaced by AI.

"Today could see greater focus on AI risks ... with Anthropic announcing the launch yesterday of new agentic solutions for the financial sector," the brokerage added.

The tools released by the U.S.-based AI lab on Tuesday could speed up myriad tasks for banks and insurers, Anthropic said, while its CEO Dario Amodei predicted further software disruption.

Cloud software revenue, which makes up 23% of Wolters Kluwer's total revenue as it increasingly moves its customer base to newer, cloud-based platforms, grew 14% organically over the first quarter.

The company also confirmed its full-year guidance for good organic revenue growth and an adjusted operating profit margin of around 28.0%.

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((leo.marchandon@thomsonreuters.com))