Despite increased interest in its financial management software, Intuit Inc. said the poor economy drove down earnings for its second fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 31.
The Mountain View, Calif., company said its revenue for the quarter dropped 5% from a year earlier, to $791 million. Net income dropped 26%, to $85 million.
"While our company is not recession-proof, we are resilient," Brad Smith, Intuit's president and chief executive, said in a press release last week.
"Consumers and small-business owners are focused on saving and making money, and that is what our products are designed to deliver."
When Intuit announced its second-quarter guidance in November, it projected revenue growth of 3% to 5%; last week it said it would have reported revenue growth of 2% if not for a deferral of $70 million in its consumer tax unit for sales bundled with the electronic filing for its desktop product. Revenue from the unit declined 25%, to $187 million, but would have increased 4% without the deferral.
Nevertheless, "revenue was within our expected range," Mr. Smith said.
Intuit expects to report third-quarter revenue of $1.38 billion to $1.46 billion.
For the full year, it now expects to report revenue of $3.13 billion to $3.25 billion, versus its November guidance of $3.26 billion to $3.38 billion.