INTU · Technology(services-prepackaged software) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2026-07-31
Intuit Inc. reported revenue of $21.4 billion in fiscal 2026, after growing 17.1% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin held steady at about 27.4% from 2017, and it earned 16.7% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $40.6 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 41.9% went to buybacks and 23.4% to acquisitions; the share count rose 6.1%. On the accounting screens, it passes 7 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 4.80 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202621.4B+17.1% a year over 9 years
Operating margin27.4%gross margin —
Return on invested capital16.7%12.8% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay6.6B30.8% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA0.5×net debt 3.0B
Piotroski F-score7/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
010.0B20.0B30.0B
2017Revenue 5.2BOperating income 1.4B
2018Revenue 6.0BOperating income 1.6B
2019Revenue 6.8BOperating income 1.9B
2020Revenue 7.7BOperating income 2.2B
2021Revenue 9.6BOperating income 2.5B
2022Revenue 12.7BOperating income 2.6B
2023Revenue 14.4BOperating income 3.1B
2024Revenue 16.3BOperating income 3.6B
2025Revenue 18.8BOperating income 4.9B
2026Revenue 21.4BOperating income 5.9B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+14.3%
+17.4%
+17.1%
Operating income
+23.3%
+18.7%
+17.1%
Net income
+24.2%
+17.2%
+18.6%
Earnings per share
+25.1%
+16.9%
+17.8%
Free cash flow per share
+22.3%
+21.7%
+20.7%
Dividend per share
+15.7%
+15.5%
+15.3%
Shares
-0.7%
+0.3%
+0.7%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 8.4%
0.0%20.0%40.0%60.0%
2017Return on invested capital 45.9%
2018Return on invested capital 40.7%
2019Return on invested capital 36.7%
2020Return on invested capital 21.3%
2021Return on invested capital 16.9%
2022Return on invested capital 8.9%
2023Return on invested capital 10.7%
2024Return on invested capital 12.4%
2025Return on invested capital 15.3%
2026Return on invested capital 16.7%
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Economic profit
Economic profit
01.0B2.0B3.0B
2017Economic profit 821.5M
2018Economic profit 1.1B
2019Economic profit 1.2B
2020Economic profit 1.1B
2021Economic profit 1.0B
2022Economic profit 131.9M
2023Economic profit 544.7M
2024Economic profit 978.3M
2025Economic profit 1.8B
2026Economic profit 2.2B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
24.0%
Return on assets
12.4%
Asset turnover
0.58×
Research & development
15.7% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
7.6% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
02.5B5.0B7.5B10.0B
2017Net income 985.0MFree cash flow 1.5BAfter stock-based pay 1.2B
2018Net income 1.3BFree cash flow 2.1BAfter stock-based pay 1.7B
2019Net income 1.6BFree cash flow 2.2BAfter stock-based pay 1.8B
2020Net income 1.8BFree cash flow 2.4BAfter stock-based pay 1.9B
2021Net income 2.1BFree cash flow 3.2BAfter stock-based pay 2.4B
2022Net income 2.1BFree cash flow 3.7BAfter stock-based pay 2.4B
2023Net income 2.4BFree cash flow 4.8BAfter stock-based pay 3.1B
2024Net income 3.0BFree cash flow 4.7BAfter stock-based pay 2.8B
2025Net income 3.9BFree cash flow 6.1BAfter stock-based pay 4.2B
2026Net income 4.6BFree cash flow 8.7BAfter stock-based pay 6.6B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2026
40.6B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 3%1.1B
Acquisitions 23%9.5B
Dividends 19%7.7B
Share buybacks 42%17.0B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 13%5.2B
Over the same years it paid 11.3B in stock. The share count rose 6.1%. 5.7B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$10.00$20.00$30.00$40.00
2017Earnings per share $3.77Free cash flow per share $5.74Dividend per share $1.35
2018Earnings per share $5.09Free cash flow per share $7.95Dividend per share $1.56
2019Earnings per share $5.90Free cash flow per share $8.52Dividend per share $1.90
2020Earnings per share $6.92Free cash flow per share $8.92Dividend per share $2.12
2021Earnings per share $7.55Free cash flow per share $11.71Dividend per share $2.37
2022Earnings per share $7.27Free cash flow per share $13.14Dividend per share $2.73
2023Earnings per share $8.42Free cash flow per share $17.09Dividend per share $3.14
2024Earnings per share $10.43Free cash flow per share $16.52Dividend per share $3.64
2025Earnings per share $13.67Free cash flow per share $21.64Dividend per share $4.20
2026Earnings per share $16.48Free cash flow per share $31.27Dividend per share $4.86
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
260.0M270.0M280.0M290.0M
2017Diluted shares 261.0M
2018Diluted shares 261.0M
2019Diluted shares 264.0M
2020Diluted shares 264.0M
2021Diluted shares 273.0M
2022Diluted shares 284.0M
2023Diluted shares 283.0M
2024Diluted shares 284.0M
2025Diluted shares 283.0M
2026Diluted shares 277.0M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-4.0B-2.0B02.0B4.0B6.0B
2017Net debt -41.0M
2018Net debt -1.0B
2019Net debt -1.7B
2020Net debt -3.1B
2021Net debt -528.0M
2022Net debt 4.1B
2023Net debt 3.3B
2024Net debt 2.4B
2025Net debt 3.1B
2026Net debt 3.0B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
0.5×
Interest coverage
23× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
1.51 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 11d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
7of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
4.80safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.14 × 6.56+0.92
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.52 × 3.26+1.69
Operating income ÷ assets 0.16 × 6.72+1.07
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.07 × 1.05+1.12
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.88below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.04+0.95
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 0.94+0.38
Sales growth 1.14+1.02
Slower depreciation 0.98+0.11
Overheads vs sales 0.89-0.15
Profit not in cash -0.12-0.54
Leverage rising 1.02-0.33
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$234.63discounted at 8.4% a year · 62% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
14.2×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
11.2×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.2×
Free cash flow yield
10.2%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today25.8B
Everything after, today42.2B
The whole business68.0B
Minus net debt-3.0B
What belongs to shareholders65.0B
Divided among 277.0M shares: <strong>$234.63</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2017Reported 1.2B
2018Reported 1.7B
2019Reported 1.8B
2020Reported 1.9B
2021Reported 2.4B
2022Reported 2.4B
2023Reported 3.1B
2024Reported 2.8B
2025Reported 4.2B
2026Reported 6.6B
2027Projected 2.5B
2028Projected 2.9B
2029Projected 3.3B
2030Projected 3.7B
2031Projected 4.1B
2032Projected 4.5B
2033Projected 4.8B
2034Projected 5.1B
2035Projected 5.3B
2036Projected 5.4B
2017201920212023202520272029203120332035
Year by year
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
Revenue
25.2B
29.2B
33.3B
37.5B
41.6B
45.4B
48.8B
51.6B
53.8B
55.1B
Growth
17.5%
15.8%
14.2%
12.5%
10.8%
9.2%
7.5%
5.8%
4.2%
2.5%
Cash margin
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
Free cash flow
2.5B
2.9B
3.3B
3.7B
4.1B
4.5B
4.8B
5.1B
5.3B
5.4B
Worth today
2.3B
2.4B
2.6B
2.7B
2.7B
2.7B
2.7B
2.7B
2.6B
2.4B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
7.4%
244
264
289
319
357
7.9%
222
239
259
283
313
8.4%
204
218
235
254
278
8.9%
188
200
214
230
250
9.4%
174
185
197
210
226
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
13.5%
15.5%
17.5%
19.5%
21.5%
7.9%
164
178
194
211
228
8.8%
181
197
214
233
253
9.8%
198
216
235
255
277
10.8%
215
234
255
277
301
11.8%
232
253
275
299
325
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$161.23
Median$234.55
90th percentile$348.78
$200.00$400.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$192.82</b> and <b>$287.59</b>; one in ten below $161.23, one in ten above $348.78.
Does the long run make sense?
6.0×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.0 times that year's EBITDA.
5%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 53% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 5% on the new capital — it has earned 13% on average over the last five years.
62%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.