Intuit Reports Season-to-date TurboTax Unit Results

Pace Accelerates after Late Season Start;
Company Reiterates Full-year Revenue Guidance

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today issued its second of three season-to-date results for its fiscal year 2013 consumer tax offerings. From Jan. 30 through March 16, sales of TurboTax Online units increased 29 percent versus the comparable prior-year period. Total TurboTax federal units were up 26 percent in the same span.

Tax season typically begins in mid-January. This year, however, the Internal Revenue Service opened e-file Jan. 30, roughly two weeks later than usual. For the total season through March 16, total TurboTax federal units were flat year over year. “IRS data shows total returns are down 7 percent as of March 15,” said Dan Maurer, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit’s consumer group. “We’ve had strong growth since Jan. 30 and season-to-date we're taking share at retail, outperforming in mobile channels and maintaining our strong leadership position online. We’re looking forward to a strong end to the season. Millions of Americans still need to file their taxes.”

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.

Season-to-date TurboTax Federal Unit Data

               
     

Season Through
March 17, 2012

   

Season Through
March 16, 2013

 

   

Year-over-year
Change

   

Jan. 30- March
16, 2013
Change Versus
Comparable
Prior-year
Period

TurboTax Desktop     5,073,000     4,954,000     -2%     15%
TurboTax Online     12,468,000     12,695,000     2%     29%
Sub-total TurboTax Units     17,541,000     17,649,000     1%     26%
TurboTax Free File Alliance     831,000     698,000     -16%     21%
Total TurboTax

Units

    18,372,000     18,347,000     0%     26%

Note: Unit data through March 16, 2013.

 

The company will issue a third and final tax season update at the end of 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 March 25, 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 TurboTax 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.

Intuit Inc.
Matt Rhodes, 650-944-2536 (Investors)
matthew_rhodes@intuit.com
Diane Carlini, 650-944-6251 (Media)
diane_carlini@intuit.com

Source: Intuit Inc.