Software company Intuit (INTU) has announced better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and reaffirmed its guidance for the current fiscal year.
The company, which makes popular tax and accounting software products such as TurboTax and QuickBooks, reported quarterly revenue of $3 billion U.S., up 15% from a year ago.
The consensus expectation among Wall Street analysts who cover Intuit was for revenue of $2.88 billion U.S. in the latest quarter.
In terms of profit, Intuit announced earnings per share (EPS) of $2.47 U.S., well above Wall Street forecasts of $1.98 U.S.
Intuit said revenue in its small business and self-employed business unit rose 18%, while its consumer-segment saw an increase of 25%.
Intuit bought back $603 million U.S. of common stock in the quarter, leaving $3.2 billion U.S. remaining on its current share-repurchase program.
The company said that it has begun to introduce artificial intelligence (A.I.) features in some of its products that create images and text.
A new feature in the company’s consumer tax software, which will be included in the coming tax season, will provide A.I. analysis of tax returns with insights on why filers are or aren’t getting a refund.
For the current quarter, Intuit forecasts revenue growth of 11% to 12%, with profits of $2.25 U.S. to $2.31 U.S. per share.
That guidance was a little below the consensus view on Wall Street that called for 12% revenue growth and a profit of $2.57 U.S. per share.
Intuit’s stock has gained 45% this year and currently trades at $565.07 U.S. a share.
