Shares of Intuit, which sells accounting and tax preparation software for small businesses, reached an all-time high of $234.77 on Tuesday ahead of its second-quarter earnings on Thursday after the market closes. The results will be benefited by an increase in the subscriber base of QuickBooks Online, which could drive its Small Business & Self Employed segment.
During the past five quarters, the company has surprised investors with an earnings beat. The second quarter will turn beneficial due to the start of the online returns filing by about 90% of the 150 million Americans. Also, the company could be favorable from about 29 million small businesses, who depend on third-party for tax preparation. The tax season is expected to start out at a faster than expected pace.
Analysts expect Intuit to report earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $1.47 billion for the second quarter. In comparison, during the previous year quarter, the company posted a profit of $0.35 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion. Majority of the analysts recommended a “hold” rating with an average price target of $231.94.
Market experts remained optimistic about the company’s mid-market targeting QuickBooks Online Advanced service. The customers would be benefited by the easy discovery of critical payments functionality in the QuickBooks Payments that was redesigned recently. In addition, the Consumer business will be assisted by the growth in TurboTax Live offering.
For the first quarter, the company swung to a profit from a loss last year helped by the higher income tax benefit. The adjusted earnings exceeded analysts’ expectations. Revenue grew 12% led by 42% growth in small business online ecosystem revenue. Total Small Business and Self-Employed Group revenue grew 11%. Consumer revenue jumped by 22% while professional tax revenue within the Strategic Partner Group rose by 6%.
QuickBooks Online subscribers grew 41%, ending the first quarter with nearly 3.6 million subscribers. U.S. subscribers grew 35% to about 2.7 million, and international subscribers grew 61% to over 880,000. Within QuickBooks Online, Self-Employed subscribers grew to about 745,000, up from roughly 425,000 a year ago.
For the second quarter, the company had expected adjusted earnings in the range of $0.85 to $0.88 per share and revenue in the range of $1.47 billion to $1.49 billion. GAAP earnings were predicted to be in the range of $0.55 to $0.58 per share. For the full year 2019, the company has projected earnings of $5.25 to $5.35 per share, adjusted earnings of $6.40 to $6.50 per share, and revenue in the range of $6.53 billion to $6.63 billion.
Shares of Intuit opened higher on Tuesday and is trading in the green territory as it nears the trade close. The stock has risen over 36% in the past year and over 17% in the past three months.