New York, Feb 27, 2026, 11:02 EST — Regular session
- Intuit jumped roughly 2.4% early, recouping ground after a late stumble tied to its profit outlook.
- TurboTax’s parent projected adjusted earnings that missed forecasts, blaming increased spending on marketing and support.
- Attention shifts to tax-season activity as the April 15 U.S. filing deadline approaches.
Intuit Inc shares moved higher Friday, bouncing back from a drop in after-hours trading. Investors sized up a solid second quarter, even as the profit outlook for the core U.S. tax season came in lighter.
Shares climbed roughly 2.4% to $403.88 early in the session, bucking the trend as the Nasdaq slipped 0.6% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%.
Just a day earlier, Intuit projected third-quarter adjusted earnings per share in the $12.45 to $12.51 range—missing the consensus target of $12.95 from analysts—even as the company cited about 10% growth in revenue. Adjusted earnings per share excludes certain expenses from profit calculations.
Intuit chalked up the shortfall mostly to higher spending, particularly on marketing and customer support, as it looks to draw more users to TurboTax and ramp up assisted tax services — that’s where filers tap a human expert. QuickBooks is also getting attention. CFO Sandeep Aujla told Reuters the company is “paying OpenAI and Anthropic for the capabilities” but “not paying them revenue share,” as Intuit pushes AI tools further into its products.
Intuit’s biggest quarter lands during tax season, as usual. The IRS opened the gates for federal returns on Jan. 26, with the deadline hitting April 15. That schedule packs demand—and this time, the company’s spending—into a tight window.
Intuit turned in second-quarter revenue of $4.651 billion, a 17% increase, according to a filing linked with its latest earnings. CEO Sasan Goodarzi credited “disciplined execution” for what he called an “outstanding second quarter.” The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook and signed off on a $1.20 quarterly dividend, set for payment April 17. Sec
Intuit’s latest quarterly filing shows selling and marketing expenses climbed to $150 million, up from $136 million one year ago. The company also said it ended a $5.8 billion short-term revolving credit facility on Feb. 26, originally arranged to back its TurboTax early tax refund program.
Intuit’s rivals include H&R Block for assisted tax prep, and it also goes head-to-head with Oracle’s NetSuite across segments of small-business software. Price moves, service offerings, and product bundles can all shift fast, especially in peak seasons.
Even so, Friday’s move hints that buyers are betting on the company’s revenue growth and its choice to stick with full-year targets—despite increased spending aimed at snagging customers when switching is most common.
Still, there’s risk on both sides here. Suppose customer acquisition costs outpace forecasts, or that assisted tax demand misses the mark—margin pressure could escalate quickly. Plenty of nerves remain over the prospect that AI-focused offerings might gradually erode the appeal of conventional software.
Now, investors are scanning for evidence that the increased outlays are showing up in early tax activity and demand from small businesses. Their next checkpoints: the April 15 filing deadline, and quarter-end coming up April 30.
