Intuit

Intuit’s enduring advantages are strongest in small‑business finance. QuickBooks is deeply embedded in customer workflows, intertwined with accountants, payroll, payments, tax, and hundreds of third‑party apps. This creates high switching costs, a partner‑driven network effect, and data scale that increasingly powers AI‑assisted automation.

TurboTax benefits from brand and assisted experts (TurboTax Live), while Credit Karma contributes data scale and a demand funnel. Fiscal 2025 segment data show Global Business Solutions at 11.1 billion dollars revenue and Online Ecosystem at 8.3 billion dollars, confirming the platform nature of the moat.

We add an ecosystem‑compounding tilt as Intuit deploys “AI agents” across tasks. Counterpoints: in consumer tax, the IRS Direct File program and marketing constraints could erode the edge at the low‑end over time, and Mailchimp’s competitive intensity remains elevated.

Overall, multiple moat types (switching costs, network/partner effects, brand, and scale) justify a high score with a modest policy haircut.

Evidence of pricing power is tangible. Intuit increased QuickBooks Online list prices in 2024 and again in mid‑2025 (e.g., Plus to 115 dollars and Advanced to 275 dollars per month; Payroll per‑employee rates also rose), and guided to higher ARPR in TurboTax as customers selected higher‑value assisted offerings.

Fiscal 2025 saw TurboTax Live revenue up 47 percent and Online Ecosystem up 20 percent, reflecting mix and price. Community and accountant bulletins corroborate broad U.S. price updates in July–August 2025. We balance this strength with sensitivity to SMB churn at the very low end and Mailchimp competitive pressures.

The business is highly recurring and diversified across millions of SMBs and consumers, with subscription revenue rising as a share of mix. Fiscal 2025 delivered 16 percent revenue growth to 18.8 billion dollars, with Global Business Solutions up 16 percent, Online Ecosystem up 20 percent, Consumer up 10 percent, and Credit Karma up 32 percent.

The cash conversion profile is consistent, and capex is low. That said, TurboTax retains tax‑seasonality, and policy risk from Direct File introduces a tail uncertainty in consumer tax adoption. We view the small‑business engine as the primary stabilizer with long runway from mid‑market expansion.

TTM cash from operations was 6.2 billion dollars with only 124 million dollars in capex, for about 6.08 billion dollars of free cash flow and roughly 32 percent FCF margin.

Reported cash and investments available to the company were about 4.6 billion dollars versus 6.0 billion dollars of total debt at July 31, 2025, implying de‑risked net leverage under 0.3 times FCF. The balance sheet comfortably supports ongoing buybacks and dividends while funding AI and product investments.

Intuit’s secured facilities fund customer lending products and are matched by funds payable, limiting structural liquidity risk within that program.

Intuit prioritizes organic reinvestment in AI, product, and go‑to‑market, then returns excess cash via repurchases and a growing dividend. In fiscal 2025, it repurchased 2.8 billion dollars of stock, raised the dividend 15 percent to 1.20 dollars per quarter starting October 2025, and added 3.2 billion dollars to its buyback authorization.

Large acquisitions have been mixed: Credit Karma is recovering strongly, while Mailchimp has been a headwind in recent updates. Share‑based compensation is material at about 2.0 billion dollars annually, but the share count is roughly flat to slightly down due to repurchases, which mitigates dilution.

CEO Sasan Goodarzi has executed a multi‑year transition toward an AI‑driven expert platform across consumer and SMB, with clear progress in assisted tax and mid‑market.

Founder Scott Cook remains a significant long‑tenured shareholder and director, and overall directors and executive officers owned about 2.7 percent of shares as of October 31, 2024, aligning incentives. Governance includes robust stock ownership requirements for senior leaders.

Risk management has been active around fraud, data protection, and regulatory matters.

Quality Value Investing Checklist scores: 1) Morningstar moat: 90 wide moat per Morningstar research; 2) Return on capital: 85 approximate ROIC high‑teens on NOPAT relative to invested capital; 3) Revenue and FCF growth: 85 consistent double‑digit multi‑year; 4) High margins: 90 GAAP operating margin about 26 percent and FCF margin about 32 percent; 5) Owner‑CEO: 70 founder still significant though not CEO; 6) Simplicity: 70 multi‑segment fintech adds complexity; 7) Very low debt: 88 low net leverage vs FCF; 8) Dilution: 65 SBC sizable but offset by buybacks; 9) Jurisdiction: 90 U.S. base with minimal geopolitical risk; 10) Trend alignment and boringness: 85 secular digitization and AI tailwinds; 11) Superinvestor inspiration: 80 tollbooth‑like, cash generative compounder; 12) Valuation: see recommendation for fair multiple and range.