Intuit forecasts quarterly results below estimates on weak demand, promotions delay

:Intuit projected second-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, indicating that its AI efforts would take longer to pay off and that a planned change in TurboTax promotion timings weighed on growth.
Shares of the company fell nearly 5 per cent in extended trading.
Intuit’s consumer group, which caters to individuals, is expected to see a single-digit revenue decline in the second quarter due to the delay in promotions for the desktop offering of TurboTax, its software widely used by Americans to file their taxes.
The company said the delay only impacts the current quarter and reiterated its annual forecast for double-digit revenue growth.
Intuit offers financial products, including personal finance portal Credit Karma, marketing platform Mailchimp and accounting software suite QuickBooks that help small businesses manage their finances.
Its shares had declined 5.1 per cent on Tuesday after a Washington Post report that President-elect Donald Trump’s government efficiency team was considering creating a free tax-filing app.
“I am personally engaging with the incoming leaders and new administration,” CEO Sasan Goodarzi told Reuters.
“And as we’ve always said, another free tax software is not going to make any impact because free (software) is already available to all Americans,” he added.
Intuit expects revenue to be between $3.81 billion and $3.84 billion in the second quarter, compared with estimates of $3.87 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It forecast quarterly adjusted profit per share of $2.55 to $2.61, below estimates of $3.20.
The company on Wednesday made its generative AI financial assistant tool, Intuit Assist, generally available for QuickBooks Online users in the U.S. Intuit had launched the AI tool last year to help clients in financial decision-making when using its products.
“The current light quarter is indicating a pause until customers better understand the return on investment of AI,” said Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research.
First-quarter revenue of $3.28 billion beat estimates of $3.14 billion, while adjusted profit of $2.50 per share surpassed estimates of $2.35.