Intuit Swings To Loss, Outlook Weak; Shares Down

(RTTNews) - Intuit Inc., (INTU) Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter and the accounting software maker also detailed a weak outlook.

Intuit reported fourth-quarter loss of $40 million or $0.16 per share, compared with last year's profit of $14 million or $0.05 per share last year.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.08 per share, compared to a loss of $0.05 per share a year ago. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.02 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter rose 8 percent to $754 million from $696 million a year earlier. Total QuickBooks Online subscribers increased by 41 percent in 2016, to finish with 1.51 million paid subscribers. Fourteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of about $732.74 million for the quarter.

"This was a strong year from start to finish," said Brad Smith, Intuit's chairman and chief executive officer. "One of our strategic goals is to be the operating system behind small business success, and our small business ecosystem remains vibrant."

"We are looking forward to building on this success in fiscal 2017," Smith said.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company expects revenues of $740 million to $760 million and adjusted earnings of $0.01 to $0.03 per share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.13 per share on revenues of $772.73 million.

For the full year, Intuit now expects revenues of $5.0 billion to $5.1 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.30 to $4.40 a share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $4.33 per share and revenues of $5.08 billion.

INTU closed Tuesday's trading at $113.84, up $1.30 or 1.16%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $3.85 or 3.38% in the after-hours trade.