Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today
released the first of three season-to-date updates for its fiscal year
2013 consumer tax offerings. Sales of TurboTax Online units picked up
through early February, growing 32 percent from Jan. 30 to Feb. 16
versus the comparable prior-year period. Total federal units grew 29
percent in the same span.
Year to date through Feb. 16, total TurboTax federal units were down 7
percent compared to the same period last year.
"As we've noted, the tax industry got off to a slow start in January.
Since the Internal Revenue Service opened e-file on Jan. 30, we’ve seen
strong momentum in TurboTax Online,” said Dan Maurer, senior vice
president and general manager of Intuit’s consumer group. “We're
confident that we're on track and we have an aggressive plan to win."
As part of the company’s second-quarter earnings announcement, Intuit
today also reiterated full-year Consumer Tax revenue growth guidance of
8 to 10 percent and company revenue growth guidance of 10 to 12 percent.
Further details are available in the second-quarter earnings release
issued today.
Season-to-date TurboTax Federal Unit Data
Comparable Prior- Year Period
Season Through Feb. 16, 2013
Percent Change Year-Over-Year
Jan. 30 - Feb. 16, 2013 Change Versus Comparable Prior-Year Period
TurboTax Desktop
4,301,000
4,053,000
-6%
14%
TurboTax Online
9,208,000
8,646,000
-6%
32%
Sub-total TurboTax Units
13,509,000
12,699,000
-6%
29%
TurboTax Free File Alliance
590,000
429,000
-27%
28%
Total TurboTax Units
14,099,000
13,128,000
-7%
29%
Note: Unit data through Feb. 16, 2013.
Intuit will issue additional tax season updates in March and April.
About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of innovative business and financial
management solutions for small businesses, consumers, accounting
professionals and financial institutions. Its flagship products and
services that include QuickBooks®, TurboTax® and Quicken® help customers
solve important business and financial management problems, such as
running a small business, paying bills, filing income taxes, or managing
personal finances. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax
preparation offerings for professional accountants. Intuit Financial
Services provides digital banking solutions to banks and credit unions
that help them make it easier for their customers to manage money and
pay bills.
Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $4.15 billion in its
fiscal year 2012. The company has approximately 8,500 employees with
major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India,
Singapore and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
Cautions About Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including
forecasts of Intuit’s future expected financial results; expected shifts
in revenue as a result of the late tax legislation; expectations
regarding Intuit’s growth; and its prospects for the business in fiscal
2013.
Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the
forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation,
the following: inherent difficulty in predicting consumer behavior;
difficulties in receiving, processing, or filing customer tax
submissions; consumers may not respond as we expected to our advertising
and promotional activities; product introductions and price competition
from our competitors can have unpredictable negative effects on our
revenue, profitability and market position; governmental encroachment in
our tax businesses or other governmental activities or public policy
affecting the preparation and filing of tax returns could negatively
affect our operating results and market position; we may not be able to
successfully innovate and introduce new offerings and business models to
meet our growth and profitability objectives, and current and future
offerings may not adequately address customer needs and may not achieve
broad market acceptance, which could harm our operating results and
financial condition; business interruption or failure of our information
technology and communication systems may impair the availability of our
products and services, which may damage our reputation and harm our
future financial results; as we upgrade and consolidate our customer
facing applications and supporting information technology
infrastructure, any problems with these implementations could interfere
with our ability to deliver our offerings; any failure to properly use
and protect personal customer information and data could harm our
revenue, earnings and reputation; if we are unable to develop, manage
and maintain critical third party business relationships, our business
may be adversely affected; increased government regulation of our
businesses may harm our operating results; if we fail to process
transactions effectively or fail to adequately protect against potential
fraudulent activities, our revenue and earnings may be harmed; any
significant offering quality problems or delays in our offerings could
harm our revenue, earnings and reputation; our participation in the Free
File Alliance may result in lost revenue opportunities and
cannibalization of our traditional paid franchise; the continuing global
economic downturn may continue to impact consumer and small business
spending, financial institutions and tax filings, which could negatively
affect our revenue and profitability; year-over-year changes in the
total number of tax filings that are submitted to government agencies
due to economic conditions or otherwise may result in lost revenue
opportunities; our revenue and earnings are highly seasonal and the
timing of our revenue between quarters is difficult to predict, which
may cause significant quarterly fluctuations in our financial results;
our financial position may not make repurchasing shares advisable or we
may issue additional shares in an acquisition causing our number of
outstanding shares to grow; our inability to adequately protect our
intellectual property rights may weaken our competitive position and
reduce our revenue and earnings; our acquisition and divestiture
activities may disrupt our ongoing business, may involve increased
expenses and may present risks not contemplated at the time of the
transactions; our use of significant amounts of debt to finance
acquisitions or other activities could harm our financial condition and
results of operation; and litigation involving intellectual property,
antitrust, shareholder and other matters may increase our costs. More
details about these and other risks that may impact our business are
included in our Form 10-K for fiscal 2012 and in our other SEC filings.
You can locate these reports through our website at http://investors.intuit.com.
Forward-looking statements are based on information as of February 21,
2013, and we do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking
statement or other information in these materials.
Unit Data and Estimates Used
The unit numbers reported are based on weekly reports received by Intuit
from its retailers and distributors as well as the number of units
provided directly by Intuit. The numbers included in these updates are
preliminary and include estimates, including estimates of sales by
merchants that do not report their sales to Intuit. Although Intuit
takes steps to verify the reliability of the unit data, Intuit believes
that errors in the data reported by its retailers and distributors may
impact its reported retail unit numbers on an immaterial basis.
Intuit and the Intuit logo, among others, are registered trademarks
and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and
other countries.