Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) ended Thursday, December 18, 2025, on a strong note and then eased slightly in late trading. The stock closed at $668.88 and was $668.30 after hours (as of 7:00 p.m. ET), a modest dip of $0.58 in extended trading. [1]
The key question for investors heading into Friday, Dec. 19 isn’t just whether INTU can hold today’s gains—it’s how traders will price two fresh company headlines (a stablecoin partnership and a tax-season campaign) against a market backdrop that includes major derivatives expiration and a busy end-of-week data slate.
Quick recap: the 5 things to know tonight
- After-hours check: INTU slipped slightly after the close ($668.30) versus the regular-session close ($668.88). [2]
- Thursday performance: Shares rose 1.23% in the regular session, outperforming some software peers as the broader market advanced. [3]
- Big headline #1: Intuit announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Circle to bring USDC stablecoin capabilities to parts of TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma. [4]
- Big headline #2: Intuit also launched a new iteration of its “Now This Is Taxes” campaign for tax year 2025 filing (taxes filed in 2026), including time-bound offers meant to pull demand forward early in the season. [5]
- Tomorrow’s tape risk:Friday, Dec. 19 is a quarterly “triple witching/quadruple witching” derivatives expiration day—often associated with heavier volume and sharper intraday moves, especially into the close. [6]
INTU stock after hours: where the price stands after the bell
Intuit finished the regular session at $668.88, then traded slightly lower after hours at $668.30 (a fractional move in percentage terms). [7]
A few price context points from Thursday’s session:
- Previous close: $660.78
- Day range (Thu): $661.50 – $676.54
- 52-week range: $532.65 – $813.48
- Market cap: about $186B
- P/E ratio: about 45.82
- Dividend yield: about 0.72% [8]
In plain English: today was constructive, but INTU remains well below its mid-summer peak—so the stock is still trading in a “rebuild the trend” zone rather than at fresh highs. MarketWatch noted shares remain about 17.8% below their 52‑week high set in late July. [9]
What moved Intuit today: the market was up—and Intuit had real company news
Market-wide tone helped. In the same session INTU rose 1.23%, the S&P 500 gained 0.79% and the Dow rose 0.14%, according to MarketWatch’s end-of-day market recap framing. [10]
But Intuit also gave investors two company-specific updates that matter heading into 2026:
- a fintech infrastructure move (stablecoins via Circle/USDC), and
- a consumer growth push ahead of tax season (TurboTax + Credit Karma campaign).
Today’s headline #1: Intuit partners with Circle to bring USDC stablecoin capabilities to its ecosystem
Early Thursday, Intuit announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Circle Internet Group designed to “layer” stablecoin functionality—specifically USDC infrastructure—into parts of Intuit’s platform. The company positioned the move as enabling faster, lower-cost, programmable money movement across products including TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma. [11]
Why this matters for INTU investors
Intuit is already deeply tied to “money moments”—especially tax refunds. In the same release, Intuit highlighted that it operates in a market with more than $100 billion in annual tax refunds, and framed stablecoins as a potential “always-on” rail that could support new experiences in refunds, remittances, savings, and payments. [12]
If you’re trying to map this to the stock, here are the investor-relevant angles:
- Product moat extension: If stablecoin rails reduce friction (time, cost, cross-border complexity), Intuit could make its ecosystem stickier—especially for small businesses (QuickBooks) and consumers moving refunds or savings (TurboTax/Credit Karma). [13]
- Regulatory/operational complexity: Stablecoins are still a fast-evolving policy and compliance area. Even if the long-term upside is real, markets often discount new payment rails until rollout milestones are clearer.
- Signal value: Management is again emphasizing Intuit as a platform business, not “just tax software.” The company also reiterated commitments around privacy, security, and governance in connection with platform innovation. [14]
Independent coverage echoed the framing that the partnership could enable 24/7-style settlement and broader money movement features, while noting the announcement was based on Intuit’s own press release. [15]
Today’s headline #2: “Now This Is Taxes” returns—TurboTax and Credit Karma push early-season offers
At 9:30 a.m. ET, Intuit followed up with a separate announcement: the launch of its “Now This Is Taxes” campaign for tax year 2025 (returns filed in 2026), positioning its consumer platform as a blend of AI + human expertise and emphasizing “done-for-you” style experiences through TurboTax and Credit Karma integration. [16]
Two details investors may actually care about
Marketing press releases can be easy to dismiss, but two specifics stand out because they can influence user growth and mix:
- Free mobile offer: Intuit says customers who file by Feb. 28, 2026 can do their own taxes free via the TurboTax mobile app if they didn’t use TurboTax last year (with stated conditions in the release). [17]
- Flat-fee expert offer: It also advertised a $150 flat fee for federal and state for certain customers who file by Feb. 28, 2026, aimed at those who want to hand off filing to an expert. [18]
Why it matters: these kinds of time-boxed offers can pull demand earlier in the season and can shift the mix between DIY and assisted (“expert”) offerings—both of which can affect revenue per user, customer acquisition cost, and ultimately margin narratives that the market tends to focus on for premium-valued software leaders.
Wall Street forecasts: what analysts expect for INTU over the next 12 months
While price targets vary by source and methodology, the overall picture from major trackers is broadly consistent: analysts remain net bullish on Intuit, with average targets clustering in the low-to-mid $800s.
A few snapshots from widely followed aggregators:
- StockAnalysis: consensus “Strong Buy,” average price target about $811.72 (with a range cited from $700 to $880). [19]
- TipRanks: average price target about $832.19 (high $880, low $725). [20]
- Zacks: average price target around $829.63 (range shown from $670 to $875). [21]
- MarketBeat: average target about $796.60 (high $900, low $530). [22]
How to interpret this (without overreacting)
For a stock trading near $669, targets in the low $800s imply that many analysts see meaningful upside—but targets are not guarantees. The more actionable “tell” is what would cause targets to move:
- Upward target pressure typically follows accelerating growth in core ecosystems (QuickBooks platform attach, Credit Karma engagement, TurboTax mix) or clearer monetization from platform expansions like payments and “money movement.”
- Downward target pressure tends to follow margin concerns, slower growth in adjacent assets (e.g., marketing services), or higher discount rates (yields up, tech multiples compress).
What to watch before the stock market opens Friday, Dec. 19, 2025
Here’s what could matter most for INTU specifically—plus the market conditions that can amplify individual stock moves.
1) Derivatives expiration: “triple witching” / “quadruple witching” is Friday
Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, is a quarterly expiration event often referred to as triple witching (stock options + index options + index futures expiring together). Some sources also describe the broader phenomenon as quadruple witching, adding single-stock futures to the list. [23]
Why it matters for INTU: even when there’s no company-specific catalyst, these expirations can increase volume, hedging flows, and late-day volatility—which can exaggerate moves in mega-cap and large-cap names that sit in major indexes and ETFs.
2) Economic data: housing and sentiment are on deck Friday morning
A key reason investors are hypersensitive to economic data right now is the rate path. Kiplinger’s weekly preview flagged Friday releases including existing home sales and a revised University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading. [24]
A separate calendar from Scotiabank also lists Existing Home Sales (10:00 a.m.) and U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (10:00 a.m.) on Friday, Dec. 19. [25]
Why it matters for INTU: Intuit is a premium-multiple software company. When rate expectations shift, the market often reprices long-duration equities quickly. Even if the news is not INTU-specific, the stock can react.
3) Inflation narrative remains a market driver
A Reuters preview highlighted that economists expected November CPI to show an annual rise around 3.1%, and it noted unusual data limitations tied to a prolonged government shutdown affecting BLS reporting. Reuters also described the Fed as having cut rates to 3.50%–3.75% while signaling caution about further reductions amid inflation uncertainty. [26]
Whether the market trades “risk-on” or “risk-off” into Friday often comes down to how investors translate the latest inflation and labor signals into the next few Fed meetings.
4) INTU’s next scheduled catalysts: nothing tomorrow, but two dates matter
Intuit does have notable events on the horizon, just not on Friday’s open:
- Annual Stockholder Meeting:Jan. 22, 2026 (8:00 a.m. PST), listed on Intuit’s investor relations calendar. [27]
- Next earnings window: Zacks lists Intuit’s next earnings release as expected Feb. 24, 2026 (expectations can change if the company updates its schedule). [28]
Levels and positioning: what traders will likely key on next
Thursday’s action left a clear near-term map:
- Immediate reference zone: the $668–$669 area (close/after-hours pivot). [29]
- Near-term resistance: around $676.5 (Thursday’s high). [30]
- Bigger-picture ceiling: the prior 52-week high area around $813 set in late July. [31]
If markets open Friday with elevated volatility (expiration day + data), it’s common to see price probe the edges of the prior day’s range early.
Bottom line: the “setup” for Intuit stock heading into Friday
INTU goes into Friday, Dec. 19 with a constructive regular-session gain, a muted after-hours pullback, and two fresh headlines that reinforce Intuit’s platform strategy:
- Stablecoins/USDC as a potential new “money movement” rail inside TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma. [32]
- A TurboTax/Credit Karma tax-season push that aims to win early filers and highlight expert-assisted filing options with time-bound pricing. [33]
The main “tomorrow risk” is less about a surprise INTU announcement and more about market mechanics and macro sensitivity: triple/quadruple witching dynamics plus Friday morning economic releases can make the tape faster than usual. [34]
References
1. www.google.com, 2. www.google.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. investors.intuit.com, 5. investors.intuit.com, 6. www.tastylive.com, 7. www.google.com, 8. www.google.com, 9. www.marketwatch.com, 10. www.marketwatch.com, 11. investors.intuit.com, 12. investors.intuit.com, 13. investors.intuit.com, 14. investors.intuit.com, 15. ng.investing.com, 16. investors.intuit.com, 17. investors.intuit.com, 18. investors.intuit.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.tipranks.com, 21. www.zacks.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.tastylive.com, 24. www.kiplinger.com, 25. www.scotiabank.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. investors.intuit.com, 28. www.zacks.com, 29. www.google.com, 30. www.google.com, 31. www.google.com, 32. investors.intuit.com, 33. investors.intuit.com, 34. www.tastylive.com
