New York, Jan 22, 2026, 18:54 EST — After-hours
- Intuit shares jumped roughly 4% before easing a bit in after-hours trading
- With the IRS filing season kicking off Monday, investors are turning their attention back to tax-season demand
- A Morgan Stanley analyst maintained a bullish outlook on long-term growth
Shares of Intuit Inc rose 4.3%, closing at $547.69 on Thursday, before slipping 0.4% to $545.66 in after-hours trading. Despite the gains, the TurboTax and QuickBooks maker remains roughly 17% lower for the month. (MarketScreener UK)
The timing is key. The IRS announced Jan. 26 as the kickoff for the 2026 filing season, the period that usually sees the biggest surge in demand for tax software and paid “assisted” filing services. (IRS)
Intuit’s action caught attention on an otherwise quiet tape. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5%, while the Nasdaq held steady, prompting stock pickers to swiftly sell off any sign of growth slipping.
Intuit’s annual stockholder meeting slide deck zeroed in on execution and margins, projecting fiscal 2025 revenue at $18.83 billion and adjusted (non-GAAP) operating income at $7.57 billion. It also flagged first-quarter fiscal 2026 results that beat the company’s forecast, with revenue hitting $3.89 billion against an expected range of $3.74 billion to $3.78 billion. The “non-GAAP” label excludes items like stock-based compensation. (MarketScreener UK)
Keith Weiss at Morgan Stanley held firm on his “buy” rating for Intuit, setting a price target of $880. He pointed to early-stage cycles in mid-market accounting, services, and “assisted tax” as key growth drivers. According to Weiss, Intuit could hit around 20% annual revenue growth by FY30, TipRanks reported. (TipRanks)
A Form 4 filing released Wednesday revealed that director Eve B. Burton picked up 1,352 Intuit shares on Jan. 18. These came through restricted stock units linked to director fees and vesting. Following the transaction, she held 1,735.427 shares outright. (Intuit Inc.)
Tax prep is still the short-term focus. Rival H&R Block edged up roughly 0.2% in late trading, underscoring that investors are tuning into early-season signals across the sector, not only from Intuit.
But the setup works both ways. Early filing demand tends to be volatile, and any hiccup—whether service delays, deeper discounting to protect market share, or weaker refund forecasts that dampen paid upgrades—can quickly sour sentiment, especially following a steep drop month-to-date.
Traders are weighing if Thursday’s rally marks a brief halt in the sell-off or the kickoff of a tax-season rebound. The real test comes Monday with the IRS reopening and the early signals that roll in during the first week.
