Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Intuit (INTU) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Intuit (INTU - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $543.78, moving +1.65% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.71% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks and other accounting software had lost 6.5% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.5% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.25% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from INTU as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect INTU to post earnings of $0.97 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 3.19%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.81 billion, up 36.85% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.26 per share and revenue of $11.18 billion, which would represent changes of +15.61% and +16.04%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for INTU. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. INTU currently has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that INTU has a Forward P/E ratio of 47.53 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 34.07.

Also, we should mention that INTU has a PEG ratio of 3.21. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Computer - Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.91 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, putting it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Intuit Inc. (INTU) - free report >>

Published in