New York, Feb 18, 2026, 05:55 EST — Premarket
- Intuit shares added roughly 0.6% premarket, recovering a bit after dropping 5.1% by Tuesday’s close.
- Among S&P 500 software names, the stock lagged badly in the prior session.
- Intuit is up next, with its quarterly results slated for Feb. 26.
Intuit shares ticked up in premarket trade Wednesday, following a steep decline during the previous session for the TurboTax and QuickBooks parent.
Shares were changing hands at $381.31 in premarket trading, up roughly 0.6%, after slumping 5.1% to finish Tuesday at $379.17.
Intuit’s caught in the thick of the software selloff, with investors hammering names they think could get hit by nimble AI rivals. According to Reuters, both Intuit and Cadence Design Systems landed at the bottom of the S&P 500 software index on Tuesday, each dropping over 5%.
The timing comes just a week ahead of Intuit’s quarterly report—right when tax-season demand and pricing usually make an immediate appearance in the figures.
Intuit kicked off Tuesday at $393.08, climbed as high as $397.00, then dropped to $375.40. Shares closed out the session at $379.17, with trading volume landing around 5.4 million.
Market action has been all over the place lately. “You just see spikes up and spikes down,” Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York, told Reuters this week. He called it a “very short-term” market these days. Reuters
Reuters pointed to renewed jitters over the latest wave of AI models, with Alibaba rolling out a revamped system built for handling more sophisticated tasks. That’s stirring up another round of turbulence in tech sentiment.
Intuit plans to release its second-quarter numbers after markets close on Feb. 26, according to the company. The conference call kicks off at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Intuit, in its most recent quarterly outlook, put second-quarter revenue growth in the 14% to 15% range, with adjusted EPS guidance between $3.63 and $3.68, according to Reuters.
Finance chief Sandeep Aujla told investors on the post-earnings call, “We are confident in delivering double-digit revenue growth and expanding margin this year,” Reuters reported. Reuters
This tax season brings a twist—Intuit has lined up a $5.8 billion short-term revolving credit facility to back its early tax refund program, according to a Jan. 30 filing. The move lets eligible customers tap refunds as much as five days ahead of IRS payment.
Still, Wednesday’s initial pop in the stock looks shaky. A weak outlook from the company—or if investors continue to press the view that AI is eating into legacy software models faster than anticipated—and Intuit’s pre-earnings optimism could easily flip into a sell-off, with explanations trailing after.
Feb. 26 is circled on the calendar—Intuit’s set to deliver guidance and fresh color on demand trends for TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp. Investors will be listening for anything on how AI features are driving pricing decisions and customer retention.
