What happened
Shares of Intuit, Inc. (INTU +1.59%) were up 5.5% as of 3:00 p.m. EST Friday after the company announced stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter 2017 results.
So what
Quarterly revenue increased 10% year over year, to $1.016 billion, helped by 49% growth in total QuickBooks Online subscribers, to over 1.87 million. On the bottom line, that translated to adjusted net income of $67 million, and 4% year-over-year growth in adjusted net income per share, to $0.26.
To be fair, earlier this month Intuit warned that the overall tax market was off to a slow start. But these results were slightly above the guidance it provided at the time, which called for slightly lower revenue of $1.010 billion to $1.015 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.24 to $0.25.
QuickBooks online helped drive growth this quarter. Image source: Intuit.
Now what
Intuit also introduced guidance for the current fiscal second quarter of 2017, calling for revenue of $2.50 billion to $2.55 billion (up 9% to 11% year over year), adjusted earnings per diluted share of $3.85 to $3.90, assuming QuickBooks Online customers reaching 2 million. Finally, Intuit reiterated its full fiscal-year 2017 guidance, which calls for revenue of $5 billion to $5.1 billion (up 7% to 9% over fiscal 2016), and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $4.30 to $4.40 (up 14% to 16%), and QuickBooks Online customers reaching 2.2 million by the end of the year.
In the end, while these results weren't exactly jaw-dropping, it's encouraging that that tax season's slow start wasn't quite as pronounced as Intuit had originally feared, so it's no surprise to see shares trading higher today.
