Intuit forecasts annual revenue above estimates on AI-driven financial tools

:Intuit forecast fiscal 2025 revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, banking on growing demand for its AI-driven financial management tools amid recent price increases.
Intuit, known for products like TurboTax, Credit Karma, and QuickBooks, has benefited from growing demand for its AI-powered offerings, which provide personalized financial recommendations and automation of specific tasks such as bookkeeping.
Shares of the Mountain View, California-based company initially gained more than 2 per cent in extended trading, but later reversed course as investors digested a forecast for first-quarter revenue growth that came in below market expectations.
Earlier this month, Intuit implemented price increases for QuickBooks, introducing new features to entice customers.
“Our momentum both in the first quarter and going into next year is coming from our customer growth both with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Advanced,” Chief Executive Sasan Goodarzi told Reuters in an interview.
“We are adding almost 1,000 folks that are going to be focused in several areas that are particularly around AI,” Goodarzi said.
This AI-focused hiring comes on the heels of a significant workforce restructuring. In July, Intuit announced plans to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 1,800 employees.
Intuit forecast fiscal 2025 revenue to be between $18.16 billion and $18.35 billion, the mid-point of which is slightly above analysts’ average estimate of $18.18 billion, according to LSEG data.
The company, which also announced a new $3 billion share repurchase authorization, expects annual adjusted profit per share to be between $19.16 and $19.36, versus estimates of $19.15.
It expects first-quarter revenue growth to be between 5 per cent and 6 per cent, below expectations of 13.1 per cent growth, as it transitioned QuickBooks desktop products to a recurring subscription model.
Intuit expects these changes to lower revenue in the first quarter by about $160 million.
Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $3.18 billion, beating an estimate of $3.08 billion. Excluding items, it earned $1.99 per share, compared with an estimated $1.84 per share.