Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) delivered fiscal second-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations, but its outlook for the current quarter fell short of market forecasts, weighing on investor sentiment.
Shares of the company declined about 4% in premarket trading on Friday following softer-than-expected guidance for fiscal Q3, despite closing 3.5% higher ahead of the earnings release. The stock has dropped nearly 40% so far this year, largely reflecting a broader selloff across the software sector amid concerns about disruption from artificial intelligence.
The company — known for products including TurboTax and QuickBooks, as well as the Credit Karma personal finance platform — reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.15, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates of $3.68.
Quarterly revenue rose 17% year over year to $4.7 billion, surpassing the consensus forecast of $4.53 billion, while adjusted operating income increased 23% to $1.5 billion.
“We delivered an outstanding second quarter, driven by disciplined execution,” said Sasan Goodarzi, chairman and CEO of Intuit.
“We are defining a new category at the intersection of AI and human intelligence, one that delivers autonomous, done-for-you experiences, disrupts the traditional assisted tax segment, and provides mid-market enterprises with the AI-native ERP platform they need to win,” he added.
In recent months, Intuit has expanded its artificial intelligence strategy through several partnerships, including a newly announced agreement with Anthropic aimed at introducing customizable AI agents for mid-market companies.
“We continue to view Intuit as a mission-critical platform for small businesses and believe it is positioning itself well to win in the AI era with its own internally developed AI and partnerships with leading LLMs,” William Blair analyst Arjun Bhatia said ahead of the results.
Looking ahead, Intuit issued guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, which ends April 30. The company expects adjusted EPS between $12.45 and $12.51, below the analyst consensus of $12.97.
For comparison, revenue in the same quarter last year totaled $3.96 billion. Intuit forecasts revenue growth of “approximately 10%” for the upcoming quarter, implying sales of roughly $4.36 billion — below expectations of $4.53 billion.
Despite the negative share-price reaction, Wolfe Research analyst Alex Zukin said the results “reiterates our positive view on growth durability.”
“We continue to see AI as additive both to the pricing umbrella across the entire product portfolio while also seeing opportunity for a cross-upsell flywheel on the back of a best-in-class financial profile with durable top and bottom line growth,” he wrote, maintaining an Outperform rating while cutting the price target to $550 from $685.
For fiscal year 2026, Intuit reaffirmed its adjusted EPS outlook of $22.98 to $23.18, representing expected growth of about 14% to 15%.
The company also maintained its full-year revenue forecast of $21 billion to $21.2 billion, implying growth of roughly 12% to 13%. Analyst consensus currently stands at $23.2 in adjusted EPS and $21.2 billion in revenue for FY26.
Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said Intuit’s strong first-half performance “makes reiterated FY26 guide look conservative.”
“INTU’s moat in AI remains misunderstood, creating an opportunity,” he said, reiterating a Buy rating on the stock.
Intuit also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, payable April 17, 2026, representing a 15% increase compared with the same period last year.