Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today
released the first of two season-to-date unit updates for its fiscal
year 2014 consumer tax offerings. Sales of TurboTax Online units grew 11
percent versus the comparable prior-year period. Year to date through
Feb. 15, total federal units grew 7 percent.
Season-to-date TurboTax Federal Unit Data
|
|
|
|
|
Comparable Prior
-Year Period
(Feb. 16, 2013)
|
|
|
|
Season Through
Feb. 15, 2014
|
|
|
|
Percent Change
Year-Over-Year
|
TurboTax Desktop
|
|
|
|
4,053,000
|
|
|
|
3,993,000
|
|
|
|
-1%
|
TurboTax Online
|
|
|
|
8,646,000
|
|
|
|
9,595,000
|
|
|
|
11%
|
Sub-total TurboTax Units
|
|
|
|
12,699,000
|
|
|
|
13,588,000
|
|
|
|
7%
|
TurboTax Free File Alliance
|
|
|
|
429,000
|
|
|
|
490,000
|
|
|
|
14%
|
Total TurboTax
Units
|
|
|
|
13,128,000
|
|
|
|
14,078,000
|
|
|
|
7%
|
Note: Unit data through Feb. 15, 2014.
“This year we’ve delivered product innovations for filers with simple
returns and redesigned the TurboTax experience for returning customers,
supported by our new marketing campaign that positions TurboTax as the
champion of the do-it-yourself tax filer,” said Sasan Goodarzi, senior
vice president and general manager of Intuit’s consumer tax group. “The
DIY category is off to a strong start in the early part of the season.
We believe we have the right mix of solutions for filers, and will
continue to adjust through the season to grow the tax software category
and to grow share for TurboTax.”
As of Feb. 14 total do-it-yourself category e-files received by the IRS
were up 6.6 percent. On a comparable basis, TurboTax e-files were up 10
percent.
As part of the company’s second-quarter earnings announcement, Intuit
today also reiterated full-year Consumer Tax revenue growth guidance of
4 to 5 percent and company revenue growth guidance of 6 to 8 percent.
Further details are available in the second-quarter earnings release
issued today.
Intuit will issue a final tax season update in late April.
Intuit Inc. creates business and
financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for
small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.
Its flagship products and services include QuickBooks®,
Quicken® and TurboTax®,
which make it easier to manage
small businesses and payroll
processing, personal finance,
and tax preparation and filing.
Mint.com provides a fresh, easy and
intelligent way for people to manage their money, while
Demandforce® offers marketing and communication tools for small
businesses. ProSeries® and Lacerte®
are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional
accountants.
Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.2 billion in its fiscal year
2013. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices
in the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, India
and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
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.
Cautions About Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including
forecasts of Intuit’s future expected financial results; expectations
regarding Intuit’s growth; expectations regarding Intuit’s product
launches and marketing campaigns and their impacts on Intuit’s business;
and Intuit’s prospects for the business in fiscal 2014.
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 2013 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 20,
2014, 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.
Copyright Business Wire 2014