Intuit CEO Brad Smith To Step Down, Q4 Profit Up

(RTTNews) - Intuit Inc. (INTU) Tuesday announced that its CEO Brad Smith will step down at the end of December.

Smith will remain with Intuit and become Executive Chairman of Intuit's Board of Directors. The board has appointed Sasan Goodarzi, currently executive vice president and general manager of Intuit's Small Business and Self-Employed Group, to succeed him effective Jan. 1, 2019.

The company also reported a profit for the fourth quarter that improved from a year ago, however, the accounting software maker's outlook was weak.

Intuit reported fourth-quarter profit of $49 million or $0.18 per share, up from last year's profit of $24 million or $0.09 per share last year.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.32 per share, up from $0.20 per share a year ago. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.23 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter rose 17 percent to $988 million from $842 million a year earlier. Fifteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of about $952.21 million for the quarter.

Total QuickBooks Online subscribers increased by 43 percent in 2018, to finish with 3.4 million subscribers.

"Growth accelerated across our businesses this year, fueled by 18 percent growth in the Small Business and Self-Employed Group, and 14 percent growth in the Consumer Group," said Brad Smith, Intuit's chairman and chief executive officer.

"Both Online Ecosystem revenue and QuickBooks Online subscribers grew at a rapid pace. We are also pleased with the strong product innovation in our Consumer business, focused on better serving our customers.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company expects revenues of $955 million to $975 million and adjusted earnings of $0.09 to $0.11 per share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.16 per share on revenues of $988.92 million.

For the full year, Intuit expects revenues of $6.53 billion to $6.63 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.40 to $6.50 a share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $6.51 per share and revenues of $6.55 billion.

INTU closed Thursday's trading at $212.45, up $2.76 or 1.32%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $5.45 or 2.57% in the after-hours trade.