Intuit Loss Narrows, Maintains FY Outlook - Update

(RTTNews) - Intuit Inc. (INTU) Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss that narrowed from last year, as the accounting software maker's revenue grew 11 percent. Moving ahead, the company maintained its outlook for the current quarter and the full year.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Brad Smith said, "We are out of the gate strong in the first quarter, led by the rapid adoption of QuickBooks Online, which is accelerating our transition to the cloud and driving value for Intuit."

Intuit said revenues for the first quarter grew 11 percent to $622 million from $562 million in the year-ago period.

Fourteen analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a consensus revenue estimate of $603.0 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Small business group revenues rose 11 percent, driven largely by increased adoption of cloud solutions. Consumer Tax revenues grew 11 percent in a seasonally slow quarter. Professional tax segment revenues grew 16 percent for the first quarter.

Mountain View, California-based Intuit's first-quarter loss narrowed to $11 million or $0.04 per share from $19 million or $0.06 per share last year.

Excluding items, loss for the quarter widened to $16 million or $0.06 per share from $15 million or $0.05 per share last year.

On average, 19 analysts expected a loss of $0.10 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company expects a loss of $0.12 to $0.14 per share, adjusted earnings of $0.25 to $0.27 per share and revenues of $890 million to $910 million.

Analysts currently estimate a loss of $0.30 per share and revenues of $913.55 million for the second quarter.

For the full fiscal year 2014, Intuit continues to expect earnings of $3.11 to $3.19 per share, adjusted earnings of $3.52 to $3.60 per share and revenue of $4.44 billion to $4.53 billion.

Analysts currently estimate earnings of $3.56 per share on revenues of $4.48 billion for the year.

For the third quarter, Intuit expects earnings of $3.12 to $3.17 per share, adjusted earnings of $3.25 to $3.30 per share and revenues of $2.245 billion to $2.290 billion.

For the fourth quarter, Intuit expects loss of $0.02 to $0.04 per share, adjusted earnings of $0.11 to $0.13 per share and revenue of $710 million to $720 million.

INTU closed Thursday's trading at $73.16, up $0.02 or 0.03%, on the Nasdaq.