Intuit Profit Jumps On TurboTax Demand; Sees Weak 4Q

Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) reported a 20% jump in quarterly profit as demand rose for its tax-preparation software TurboTax during the delayed tax filing season.

However, the company's shares fell more than 3% after Intuit cut its fourth-quarter revenue and profit outlook.

The company said it now expects a loss of 10-12 cents per share on revenue of $683 million-$713 million for its seasonally weak fourth quarter.

Intuit had previously forecast a loss of 2-4 cents per share on revenue of $710 million to $720 million.

The Mountain View, California-based company earns most of its profit in its second and third quarters when people are more likely to buy its software in the lead-up to the tax season.

The company had to rely heavily on its third quarter to boost its overall earnings this year due to the delayed start to the tax-filing season.

Net income rose to $984 million, or $3.39 per share, in the third quarter ended April 30 from $822 million, or $2.71 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose about 14% to $2.39 billion.

Intuit said sales of TurboTax units grew 10% to 27.8 million units, led by a 14% growth of TurboTax Online.

Intuit shares were trading at $74.12 in extended trading after closing at $76.84 on Tuesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)