Intuit posts jump in 3Q net income, ups guidance, on strong tax and finance software sales

Intuit 3Q profit jumps 19 percent, boosts outlook

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Intuit Inc. on Thursday said its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 19 percent as more consumers and businesses turned to its tax and accounting software and websites.

The maker of TurboTax and Quicken said net income for the quarter ended April 30 was $576 million, or $1.78 per share, compared with $485 million, or $1.47 per share, in the year-earlier period.

Adjusted for acquisition-related charges, stock-based compensation expenses and other items, third-quarter operating profit came in at $1.89 per share.

Revenue rose 13 percent, to $1.61 billion from $1.42 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected profit of $1.82 per share, on revenue of $1.55 billion. Analyst estimates did not include stock-based compensation charges and typically exclude other one-time items.

“We saw across-the-board strength, fueled by a great tax season, a return to double-digit revenue growth in small business, and continued strong performance from our financial institutions segment,” said CEO Brad Smith in a statement.

More than 1,100 financial institutions offered TurboTax for online banking, and the company has booked 450 banks for its FinanceWorks personal finance management product.

The company bought personal finance management site Mint.com last year. New registered users for that site in the third quarter were more than 2.5 times greater than the same quarter last year.

In an interview, Smith said offering both FinanceWorks through banks and Mint.com and Quicken for customers who want to handle personal finance outside their online banking broadens the company’s market. “We see them as highly complementary,” he said.

Revenue in the company’s consumer tax business rose 12 percent, with online units making up more than 70 percent of the total TurboTax units this season. Smith said Intuit is getting better at converting people who used the free TurboTax product offered through the IRS FreeFile program in past years into paying customers. That comes from better communicating the value of spending on the software in order to get a bigger tax refund, he said.

On the strength of the results, Intuit raised its forecast for full-year profit and revenue. It now expects revenue between $3.41 billion and $3.43 billion, up from its prior guidance of $3.3 billion to $3.4 billion. Wall Street predicts revenue of $3.36 billion, with estimates ranging from $3.32 billion to $3.42 billion. The boost will largely reflect an expected 12 to 13 percent gain in consumer tax sales.

Net income, excluding one-time items, is expected to fall between $2.03 and $2.06 per share, up from its earlier projection of $1.97 to $2.04 per share. On that basis, analysts expect profit of $2.02 per share, with estimates ranging from $1.99 to $2.05.

Intuit released its results after the market closed with shares down $1.82, or 5.1 percent, at $33.75. In aftermarket electronic trading, shares slipped another 25 cents to $33.50.