Intuit INTU is stepping up efforts to accelerate customer acquisition as growth in its online paying customer base slows. The company ended fiscal 2026 with 8.9 million total online paying customers, up just 3% year over year. To widen its customer funnel, Intuit is pushing QuickBooks Free and QuickBooks Lite as low-friction entry points for smaller and early-stage businesses.
The strategy is designed to bring businesses onto the platform earlier and expand relationships as their needs grow. QuickBooks Free is already showing initial traction, with more than 20,000 customers either actively using the product or having converted to paid QuickBooks offerings as of the month before the August 2026 earnings call. Intuit is also monetizing some of these relationships through payments, creating a revenue opportunity even before customers upgrade.
Payments could play an important role in the Free-to-paid funnel. Intuit’s broader payments business continues to gain momentum, with total online payment volume, including bill pay, increasing 32% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. Customers acquired through Free or Lite could eventually adopt accounting, payments, payroll, financing and other services, increasing their value to Intuit.
The strategy also creates a potential pathway toward the mid-market, where Intuit sees a nearly $90 billion opportunity. Management wants to increase direct acquisition of new-to-the-franchise customers while continuing to expand among larger businesses. However, QuickBooks Free remains relatively early, and its initial 20,000-plus customer traction does not yet establish that it can materially reaccelerate overall customer growth.
For fiscal 2027, Intuit expects Global Business Solutions revenues to rise 13%-14%. If Free and Lite successfully widen the funnel, they could support longer-term customer growth and higher ARPC.
How Are INTU’s Competitors Faring?
H&R Block HRB competes with Intuit primarily through tax preparation and filing services. In fiscal 2026, H&R Block generated $3.95 billion in revenues, up 4.9% year over year, while net income from continuing operations rose 20.8% to $736.3 million.
Paychex PAYX competes with Intuit in payroll, HR and workforce-management solutions. In fiscal 2026, Paychex generated $6.51 billion in revenues, up 17%, while operating income increased 14% to $2.51 billion and EPS rose 7% to $4.89.
INTU’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Intuit have gained 19.1% over the past three months, underperforming the broader industry and outperforming the S&P 500 composite.
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In terms of forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S), Intuit is currently trading at 3.59X, which is at a discount to the industry average of 6.12X.
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Intuit’s estimate revisions reflect a negative trend. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2027 EPS has been revised downward 13.7% to $23.49 over the past month. The consensus estimate for 2026 calls for negative 3.2% growth year over year.
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Currently, Intuit carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).