Intuit Inc. (ticker: INTU) shares are trading higher by more than 7 percent after the company reported an impressive earnings beat during its most important quarter of the year. Intuit reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $3.90 on Tuesday afternoon, topping consensus analyst forecasts of $3.87.
Revenue of $2.54 billion was up 10.4 percent from the same quarter a year ago and beat analyst estimates of $2.5 billion.
In addition to the earnings and revenue beats, the company also raised its full-year revenue guidance and now expects revenue growth in the 9 to 10 percent range for the year.
Intuit reported a QuickBooks Online subscriber count of 2.2 million, up 59 percent from a year ago. The company expects to finish the year with 2.3 million subscribers.
Intuit delivered strong numbers for investors during the critical tax season, and CEO Brad Smith says the company expects to maintain that momentum throughout the remainder of the year.
“We entered the tax season with a clear plan to extend our lead in the do-it-yourself category and begin transforming the assisted category as well, embracing the power of the Intuit ecosystem,” Smith says. “In small business, QuickBooks subscriber growth continued, driven by improvements across our platform for self-employed, small business and accountants.”
Intuit’s strong quarter suggests 2017 may have been a strong season for tax services companies H&R Block (HRB) and Liberty Tax (TAX) as well. In 2016, more than 75 percent of H&R Block’s total revenue came during the quarter ending in April. More than half of Intuit and Liberty Tax’s revenue came during the same quarter as well.
Intuit is the best long-term investment option in the tax space due to its earnings growth potential and focus on small and midsize businesses, Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow said in April.
“However, at 22 times calendar year 2018 earnings per share estimate and risk to the main profit pool and earnings drivers, we believe…
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