New York, March 1, 2026, 12:26 PM EST — Market closed.
- Intuit shares closed up 3.7% at $409.03 on Friday, after a sharp swing around its tax-season outlook.
- The company flagged higher marketing and customer support spend, putting third-quarter profit guidance below estimates.
- Investors now watch tax-season volumes and margins into the April 15 U.S. filing deadline.
Intuit Inc shares ended Friday higher as investors steadied after the company’s profit forecast came in light for its peak tax quarter. The stock closed up 3.7% at $409.03. 1
The move matters because Intuit’s fiscal third quarter is when TurboTax demand typically surges, and the company is leaning into spending to grab customers in a crowded filing season. For traders, that sets up a simple question for Monday: does the extra spend buy growth, or just hit margins.
Late Thursday, Intuit forecast adjusted earnings per share — a profit metric that strips out some costs — of $12.45 to $12.51 for the quarter ending April 30, below analysts’ average estimate of $12.95, according to LSEG data. CFO Sandeep Aujla told Reuters the heavier marketing and customer support push is aimed at growing assisted tax (paid filing with human help) and QuickBooks, adding: “We’re paying OpenAI and Anthropic for the capabilities. We’re not paying them revenue share.” 2
The Internal Revenue Service began accepting federal returns on Jan. 26, with the filing deadline set for April 15, making the next six weeks the heart of the season. Intuit’s revenue growth view for the quarter was about 10%, roughly in line with Street expectations.
In its quarterly update, Intuit said second-quarter revenue rose 17% to $4.651 billion and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share climbed to $4.15. It also repurchased $961 million of stock in the quarter and its board approved a $1.20 per share quarterly dividend payable April 17. 3
The market’s first reaction was harsh — the shares fell about 4% in extended trading on Thursday — before buyers stepped in during Friday’s regular session. Volume hit 8.2 million shares, more than double Intuit’s 50-day average, even as the broader market slipped. 4
Intuit competes with H&R Block in consumer tax and Oracle’s NetSuite in business software, while investors have also been wary that fast-improving AI tools could chip away at traditional tax and bookkeeping workflows. That worry has been sitting on the stock for months.
On the earnings call, Aujla framed the margin pressure as timing and trade-offs, saying some “marketing and customer success cost” shifted into the third quarter as Intuit tried to maximize return on investment. 5
But the setup can still break the wrong way. If filing volumes disappoint or customer acquisition costs rise faster than expected, the spending bump could linger longer than one quarter and squeeze profit more than the company is signaling.
Investors will also dig into fresh paperwork. Intuit filed a quarterly report (10-Q) and a current report (8-K) dated Feb. 26, which can offer more color on segment trends, costs and seasonality. 6
Next up: any read-throughs on early-season tax momentum, and the hard dates that matter — April 15’s filing deadline and the April 30 quarter-end that will define Intuit’s next earnings snapshot.
