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Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Intuit Inc. (INTU) is a global leader in financial technology, offering financial management and compliance solutions to consumers, small businesses, and accounting professionals. With a market cap of $174.7 billion, Intuit serves around 100 million customers worldwide through its well-known products, including TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and INTU fits right into that category, signifying its substantial size, stability, and dominance in the software industry. Intuit leads the U.S. market for small-business accounting and DIY tax filing with its flagship products, which are known for simplicity and reliability. Its strong brand supports premium pricing and customer loyalty, fostering financial stability that fuels ongoing innovation and sustains its competitive edge.
However, the financial software titan has fallen 7.9% from its 52-week high of $676.62, which it hit on May 23. Shares of INTU have climbed 8.9% over the past three months, outperforming the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) marginal decline over the same time frame.
In the longer term, INTU shares rose 13.4% over the past year, but in 2024, the stock is down marginally. By contrast, XLK is up 8.9% on a YTD basis and 19% over the past 52 weeks.
INTU has experienced significant fluctuations recently and has been trading below its 20-day and 200-day moving averages since late August, reinforcing the ongoing bearish price trend.
Intuit's already weak price performance this year worsened after it released its Q4 earnings on Aug. 22, with shares dropping over 6% in the following session. The drop was fuelled by a decline in gross margin, missed billings expectations, and lackluster long-term guidance ahead of its investor day.
Highlighting the contrast in performance, rival Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) has gained 11.8% in the past 52 weeks but is down 5.9% on a YTD basis, lagging behind INTU.
Despite its underperformance compared to the broader tech sector, analysts are highly optimistic about INTU’s prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 27 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $729.42 is a 17.1% premium from current levels.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
