Intuit issues conservative full-year guidance amid strategy shift, shares slide

Investing.com -- Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) shares fell in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company issued fiscal 2027 guidance below Wall Street expectations, as it works to "accelerate customer growth, increase market share, and strengthen the long-term durability" of its growth model.

The stock was down 7.2% by 16:07 ET (20:07 GMT).

The financial software maker reported fourth-quarter results that beat average analyst estimates.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Intuit guided to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.44 to $2.48, well below the $4.02 consensus estimate, on revenue of $4.29 billion to $4.31 billion, below the $4.35 billion consensus.

For the full 2027 fiscal year, the company guided to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $22.88 to $23.12, significantly missing the $27.30 consensus estimate, on total revenue of $23.28 billion to $23.51 billion, also below the $23.74 billion consensus.

Intuit said the expected deceleration in fiscal 2027 is driven by softer Mailchimp growth, a declining Desktop ecosystem, and deliberate changes to TurboTax where the company is accepting lower revenue per customer upfront to accelerate customer growth and market share.

Beginning in fiscal 2027, Intuit said adjusted measures will no longer exclude share-based compensation expense, and Mailchimp will be reported as a separate segment from Global Business Solutions.

Intuit has been among the software stocks hit hard by investor fears that generative AI could disrupt established software business models. Shares fell sharply earlier this year after the company cut its TurboTax revenue outlook and announced a restructuring, though the stock has traded well off its highs for much of 2026 amid the broader AI disruption narrative weighing on software names.

The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share of $4.03, ahead of the $3.59 analyst estimate, with revenue of $4.35 billion, up 14% year-over-year and above the $4.27 billion consensus.

On a segment basis, fourth-quarter Global Business Solutions revenue rose 14% to $3.4 billion, while Online Ecosystem revenue climbed 17% to $2.6 billion, with QuickBooks Online Accounting revenue up 20% on higher effective prices, customer growth and mix shift.

Consumer revenue rose 14% to $930 million, driven by Credit Karma, which grew 16% to $743 million on strength in personal loans, auto insurance and credit cards.

TurboTax revenue grew 3% to $153 million, and ProTax revenue rose 6% to $34 million.

For the full fiscal year 2026, adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at $24.27, above the $23.83 consensus estimate, on total revenue of $21.45 billion, up 14% and ahead of the $21.37 billion consensus.

"We surpassed $20 billion in revenue for the full year with growth fueled by our Big Bets which collectively grew 34 percent and represented 30 percent of full-year revenue," said Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit. Big Bets is Intuit’s term for five strategic priorities — including embedding AI across its products and connecting customers to human experts — that the company has designated as its main growth engines.

"Our strategy is to win as an AI-driven expert platform by creating a financial system of intelligence that increasingly does the work for consumers, businesses, and accountants and helps them accomplish the outcomes that matter most," Goodarzi added.

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