Aug 22 (Reuters) - Intuit forecast fiscal 2025

revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, banking on

growing demand for its AI-driven financial management tools amid

recent price increases.

Shares of the Mountain View, California-based company rose

about 2% in extended trading as it also announced a new $3

billion repurchase authorization.

Intuit, known for products like TurboTax, Credit Karma, and

QuickBooks, has benefited from growing demand for its AI-powered

offerings, which provide personalized financial recommendations

and automation of specific tasks such as bookkeeping.

Earlier this month, Intuit implemented price increases

for QuickBooks, introducing new features to entice customers.

"Our momentum both in the first quarter and going into

next year is coming from our customer growth both with

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Advanced," Chief Executive

Sasan Goodarzi told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"We are adding almost 1,000 folks that are going to be

focused in several areas that are particularly around AI,"

Goodarzi said.

This AI-focused hiring comes on the heels of a significant

workforce restructuring. In July, Intuit announced plans to lay

off 10% of its workforce, or about 1,800 employees.

Intuit forecast fiscal 2025 revenue to be between $18.16

billion and $18.35 billion, the mid-point of which is slightly

above analysts' average estimate of $18.18 billion, according to

LSEG data.

The company expects annual adjusted profit per share to be

between $19.16 and $19.36, compared with average estimate of

$19.15.

The company also forecast first-quarter revenue growth to be

between 5% and 6%, below the average estimate of 13.1% growth,

as QuickBooks desktop products transitioned to a recurring

subscription model.

Intuit expects these changes to lower revenue in the first

quarter by about $160 million.

Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $3.18 billion,

beating an estimate of $3.08 billion. Excluding items, it earned

$1.99 per share, compared with an estimated $1.84 per share.