Intuit's fiscal first-quarter results exceeded analysts' estimates on both top- and bottom- lines
The shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) are up 12.9% at $710 this morning, following the Fintech company's fiscal first-quarter earnings report. INTU posted profits of $1.53 per share on $2.01 billion in revenue, topping analysts' estimates. It also shared an upbeat forecast, thanks to its recent Credit Karma acquisition, and its even more recent acquisition of MailChimp.
Today's surge has INTU pushing past its previous high at $646.48 -- hit on Nov. 16 -- for a fresh record. The stock is now up over 65% year-to-date, with solid support at its 20-day moving average, and support a bit lower down at its 100-day moving average containing every major pullback since the second quarter of 2020.
Analysts are swarming the security, with no less than 11 price-target hikes coming in already. The most lofty comes from Barclays, which lifted its price objective all the way to $802 from $710. The majority of analysts were bullish heading into today, though there's still room for upgrades. Of the 18 in coverage, four consider INTU a "hold." Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $734.87 is a 3.2% premium to current levels.
Options traders, on the other hand, were unusually bearish ahead of the event. This is per INTU's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.76 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which stands higher than 77% of readings from the past year. This means options traders have been picking up long puts at a quicker-than-usual clip of late.
Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.39 stands higher than 95% of all annual readings, implying short-term options traders have rarely been more put-biased.
However, today's trading leans towards bullish bets, with 4,116 calls and 2,144 puts exchanged so far -- 18 times the intraday average. The November 660 call is the most popular, followed by the 700 call in the same monthly series, with positions being opened at the latter.