Intuit Reaching Out To Farmers In India

Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU) recently released market data on fiscal year 2012 consumer tax offerings. According to their reports, as of February 18, the company reported 10% growth in total TurboTax federal unit sales. Intuit continues to dominate the online market and saw sales of TurboTax Online units grow 19% over the year. Recently, Intuit also reported their first ever second quarter of revenues that surpassed $1 billion, and an India strategy that raises eyebrows.

Intuit’s Financials
Intuit’s Q2 revenues grew 16% over the year to $1.02 billion, ahead of the Street’s target of $1.01 billion. EPS of $0.51 was significantly ahead of the market’s projections of $0.45.

By segment, product revenues fell 3% over the year to $419 million and revenues from services and other segments grew 34% over the year to $600 million. Small Business Group grew 9% over the year driven by increased adoption of QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Enterprise. Employee Management Solutions revenues grew 9%, with online payroll subscribers growing 22% over the year. Growth in the number of merchant customers helped drive payment solutions revenue up 17%.

During the quarter, Intuit bought back $331 million of its stock.

For the current quarter, Intuit expects revenues of $1.95 billion-$1.99 billion with EPS of $2.47-$2.51, compared with market projections of revenues of $1.98 billion and EPS of $2.49. Intuit expects to end the year with revenues of $4.19 billion-$4.29 billion with EPS of $2.90-$2.97. The Street was looking for full-year revenues of $4.23 billion, with earnings of $2.91 per share.

Intuit’s India Strategy
In a bold move, Intuit is expanding outside the U.S. by growing in a rather different segment. The company has been working to address the needs of farmers in India. Intuit recently disclosed more information about Fasal, a free text-messaging service that provides current information on produce and crop prices to farmers. Since its launch in October 2009, the product has been adopted by more than 40,000 farmers. Intuit hasn’t divulged any revenue plans out of this “social product” and sees it as a much-needed step to enter emerging markets and a tool for product development. Interesting strategy! I am curious to see where this leads.

Intuit’s stock is trading at $57.84 with a market capitalization of $17.2 billion. It touched a 52-week high of $62.33 in February 2012.