Intuit Reports Smaller-than-expected Quarterly Loss

Intuit Inc. reported late Thursday a loss of 29 cents a share on sales of $672 million for its fiscal first quarter, compared with a loss of 4 cents a share on sales of $622 million in the same period a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks software said it lost 10 cents on the quarter. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 20 cents a share on sales of $621 million. QuickBooks Online subscribers rose by 43% to 739,000 subscribers, the company said. Intuit's "first priority is investing for customer growth," CEO Neil Williams said in a statement. Intuit shares were flat in after hours.