How Intuit is reacting to a stock price that it deems 'meaningfully misaligned' with reality

By Emily Bary

Intuit executives are ending their automated stock-sale plans in a bid to restore investor confidence

Intuit is the parent company of TurboTax.

With Intuit's stock beaten down by artificial-intelligence fears, executives are now ceasing plans to sell shares through preset trading plans.

The company, which houses QuickBooks and TurboTax, announced on Monday that its founder and its current leadership team are terminating their 10b5-1 plans. Those are programs set up to trigger stock sales based on predetermined conditions.

While the sales associated with these trading plans are automated, the optics of insider selling aren't particularly positive at a time when shares are under pressure. Intuit's stock (INTU) has lost 46% since peaking at $807.39 in July.

Intuit's stock currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 17.45, about half its 33.53 five-year average, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

See also: 7 software stocks to buy as the sector shows signs of life

"Management believes Intuit's current stock price is meaningfully misaligned with the company's fundamental value," Intuit said in a press release on Monday. The move to end existing 10b5-1 programs shows "confidence in the company's strategy and long-term growth trajectory" and "strong conviction" on the part of management, the release said.

Intuit previously embarked upon a stepped-up buyback program as another means of responding to the stock's recent pressure and valuation levels viewed to be disassociated with the company's fundamentals.

The company repurchased $1.8 billion worth of stock in the first half of its fiscal year, up 40% from the same period a year before. Intuit now plans to "substantially accelerate repurchases." It had $3.5 billion remaining on a prior buyback authorization as of the end of last quarter.

"Under current market conditions, executing on the remaining authorization would approximately double the first half repurchase pace and nearly double full-year buybacks compared to the prior year," the company noted in Monday's release.

Intuit shares are up 2% in premarket action on Monday.

See also: Salesforce makes a big splash in the debt market so it can quickly buy back 14% of its stock

-Emily Bary

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03-16-26 0915ET