Tag Archives: stocks

Intuit Beats With Q3 Guidance But Doesn’t Raise Full-Year Outlook

No. 1 tax-preparation software maker  Intuit ( INTU ) — as it heads into its busy season — posted Q2 earnings and Q3 revenue guidance that beat Wall Street expectations, only to see its shares fall. One analyst says that the shares might be falling because the company didn’t raise its guidance for the year. At least two analysts raised their price targets on Intuit stock after the earnings release, and another was bullish on the tax season. Yet Intuit stock was down 5%, near 95, in afternoon trading on the  stock market today . In an interview after the earnings release late Thursday, Intuit CFO Neil Williams said that the company’s “momentum is really continuing into Q3.” Intuit said that sales for its fiscal Q2, which ended Jan. 31, rose 23% from the year-earlier quarter to $923 million. The company swung to a 25-cent per-share profit minus items from a 6-cent loss in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected $893 million and 19 cents. The company doesn’t give earnings guidance, but it expects Q3 sales of $2.2 billion to $2.26 billion — at the midpoint up only 4.4% from the year-earlier quarter but above the $2.2 billion analyst consensus. Wall Street expects EPS ex items to rise 10%, to $3.15 per share. For the fiscal year, Intuit sees revenue of $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion, up 8.5% at the midpoint. But the company didn’t raise its guidance for the year, RBC Capital Markets analyst Ross MacMillan told IBD, and there are questions about the company’s underlying growth potential. Another factor could be the strong earnings and guidance this week from software makers  Salesforce.com ( CRM ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ). Intuit, MacMillan says, is regarded as a “defensive” stock play, but if other stocks are doing well, Intuit is less attractive. In a research note, MacMillan said that Intuit’s TurboTax sales stood out last quarter, rising 9%. He hiked his price target on Intuit stock — but only to 93 from 91. UBS analyst Brent Thill called the results the “best start to tax season in 13 years.” The fiscal Q3 tax season is always the company’s biggest quarter. “We’re in the third year of a multiyear journey and are beginning to see a sea change in how Americans prepare their taxes, driven by the massive innovation across the TurboTax experience combined with a breakthrough marketing campaign that makes our product the hero,” Sasan Goodarzi, executive vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Consumer Tax Group,  said in the earnings release. Part of Intuit’s plan to drive consumer tax growth is to leverage its do-it-yourself tax packages, CFO Williams told IBD. “Think about growing the DIY market as growing our total addressable market,” he said. Thill also says that Intuit is a good defensive play. Williams agrees, saying that the small businesses that comprise much of Intuit’s customer base often turn to its software packages when the economy heads south. Besides TurboTax, Intuit is known for its Quicken and QuickBooks small-business software. “Our products are needed most when small-business owners are maybe facing some headwinds economically.” Williams said. “We do well with economic uncertainty.” Wedbush analyst Gil Luria raised his price target on Intuit stock to 100 from 90. Intuit rival H&R Block ( HRB ), which makes the other major tax-preparation software product, is slated to report fiscal Q3 earnings on Thursday.

SunEdison Routs Appaloosa’s Vivint Solar Injunction; Stocks Rocket

Beleaguered SunEdison ( SUNE ) and Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) stocks brightened Friday, continuing a two-day liftoff after a Delaware judge cleared their merger path by tossing an injunction request from activist investor Appaloosa Management. SunEdison stock rocketed as much as 61% Friday, after rising 37% Thursday. But the stock still is trading below 2.50, up 35% in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Vivint Solar stock rose as much as 41%, and it was up 35% Friday afternoon, near 8. TerraForm Power ( TERP ) stock was up a fraction Friday afternoon. Appaloosa, which owns 9.5% of TerraForm Power, has waged war on SunEdison’s plan to drop Vivint Solar’s 523-megawatt portfolio down to yield company TerraForm Power. SunEd’s Vivint acquisition is pending. Last month,  David Tepper-managed Appaloosa demanded “immediate injunctive relief,” claiming SunEdison would force TerraForm Power to take on $960 million in debt. A judge denied that injunction late Thursday, SunEdison said. “We are gratified that the court denied the injunction and now look ahead to continuing to navigate current market conditions,” SunEdison said in a statement . Dropping Vivint Solar’s rooftop assets to TerraForm Power frees up some space on SunEdison’s constrained balance sheet, Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin wrote in a research report. “This should also relieve some artificial pressure to sell the Vivint Solar operating portfolio as a distressed seller,” he wrote. “We think an asset sale is possible given the aversion TerraForm Power shareholders have for residential solar assets, but it is no longer a necessity.” Jobin maintained his neutral rating and 3 price target on SunEdison stock. But S&P Capital analyst Angelo Zino cut his price target on SunEdison stock to 3 from 7. He maintained his hold rating on shares. The ruling gives SunEdison some flexibility to close the Vivint Solar deal. “However, we are growing more concerned about SunEdison’s financial position given the lack of asset sales thus far announced,” Zino wrote in a report.

Splunk Pops On Sales Growth, Bigger Big Data Deals And More Of Them

Spunky Big Data stock Splunk ( SPLK ) popped as much as 16% Friday, after the company late Thursday posted better-than-expected earnings and sales, comforting investors in software stocks that had been battered in recent weeks. Earnings minus items for Splunk’s fiscal Q4 ended Jan. 31 rose 22% to 11 cents per share, where Wall Street analysts had expected 8 cents. Revenue rose 49% to $220 million, $17 million more than analysts expected. The company also forecast Q1 revenue higher than Wall Street estimates. Splunk stock eased off its session high but was still up nearly 10% in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 42, and still 45% off a 16-month high set July 23 at 76.29. The IBD Computer Software-Database group, which includes Splunk, rose as much as 3% Friday and was up more than 1% in early afternoon trading. Enterprise stocks got a boost not just from Splunk, but also from No. 1 customer relationship management software maker  Salesforce.com ( CRM ), which offered upbeat guidance after the close Wednesday. Salesforce rose 11% Thursday and was down a fraction Friday afternoon. Splunk stock had fallen 23% on Feb. 5, the day after high-flyer Tableau Software ( DATA ) stunned Wall Street with decelerating sales growth and weak guidance for 2016. Following Tableau’s lead, software issues fell by such a sizeable margin that analysts started calling it a software sector correction. “The Splunk (Q4) results were better than anticipated, given the recent disappointing quarters in fast-growth software, particularly SPLK’s Big Data cousin, Tableau,” wrote Needham analyst Scott Zeller in a Friday research note. “Splunk has faced growth deceleration over the past year, yet the company finished fiscal 2016 with a respectable 45% (year to year) billings growth and 48% revenue growth. “It is our belief (Q4) was driven by big deals (not disclosed), suggested by the ASPs  (average sale prices) of $80,000 in the quarter vs. typical $40,000-$50,000 range. The challenge will be to convince investors that SPLK can reaccelerate billings and revenue growth, rather than maintain consistent growth.” Zeller reiterated a hold rating on Splunk stock. More positive, with a buy rating and a 67 price target, Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne put Splunk’s historical average sale price at $50,000 per software license and $70,000 in Q3, compared with $80,000 in Q4. “Big-deal metrics highlight growing momentum across Splunk’s product suite,” Materne said in a research note. For the year, he says Splunk customers signed 1,447  six-figure deals, up from 1,112 in fiscal 2015, and 102 seven-figure transactions, up from 68 such biggies in 2015. It also penned three eight-figure deals last year vs. two in the company’s entire previous history. “Splunk continued its strong customer-count trajectory as well, adding 621 net new customers in the quarter and bringing its total customer count to over 11,000,” Materne noted. “Combined, we believe the fact that Splunk continues to accelerate customer additions while also growing its average contract size is a clear indication of the high level of demand for the company’s solutions and its growing strategic value in the enterprise.” Splunk guided the current Q1 ending April 30 to a non-GAAP operating margin loss of 1% to 2%, on sales of $172 million to $174 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect a 1-cent loss minus items on revenue of $171 million, which would compare to a similar 1-cent loss on $125.7 million in the year-earlier quarter. For Q4, Splunk posted a fully reported loss of 61 cents per share, up from a 47-cent loss in the year-earlier quarter.