Intuit 4th-quarter results, outlook ahead of analyst expectations

Intuit 4Q results beat analyst views

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Finance software maker Intuit Inc. reported fiscal fourth-quarter results Thursday ahead of analyst estimates and predicted results for the first quarter and fiscal 2011 year will also beat Wall Street expectations.

Intuit shares rose $2.23, or 5.8 percent, to $41 in after-hours trading, having finished regular trading down 58 cents at $38.77.

For the May-July quarter, Intuit reported a loss of $48 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with a loss of $71 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

When excluding one-time items, Intuit’s loss totaled 5 cents per share; analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected an adjusted loss of 10 cents per share.

Revenue climbed 18 percent to $537 million, beating analyst predictions for $500.7 million.

Intuit said its small business division showed 16 percent growth, and gained customers through its QuickBooks and Intuit Websites products.

The company also said that personal finance management site Mint.com ended the quarter with over 3 million users.

Looking ahead, Intuit predicted a first-quarter loss of 23 cents to 25 cents per share, or 11 cents to 13 cents on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $515 million to $525 million.

Analysts expect an adjusted loss of 11 cents per share on $519.5 million in revenue.

For the full fiscal year, the company predicted a profit of $1.88 to $1.95 per share, or $2.36 to $2.43 per share on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $3.74 billion to $3.84 billion.

Analysts expect an adjusted profit of $2.31 per share on $3.72 billion in revenue.

Also Thursday, Intuit announced that it authorized a new $2 billion stock buyback plan that will run through August 2013. Its last stock buyback plan ended in the fourth quarter; Intuit repurchased $900 million in stock during the fiscal year.