Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) in the third quarter of FY 17 has posted better than expected results and has given a bullish forecast for the fourth quarter, as online subscriptions to its Quickbooks swelled to new records. INTU has increased the total QuickBooks Online subscribers 59 percent, up from 49 percent growth in the second quarter, to over 2.2 million subscribers. The company has doubled the base of QuickBooks Self-Employed users to roughly 360,000 of total QuickBooks Online subscribers, up from 180,000 last quarter. The QuickBooks subscriber growth has continued, due to an improvement across the platform for self-employed, small business and accountants.

Intuit in the third quarter of FY 17 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.90, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.87. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 10.3 percent to $2.54 billion in the third quarter of FY 17, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.5 billion.

In the third quarter of FY 17, Intuit had repurchased $88 million of shares, with $1.9 billion remaining on the authorization. The company has received board approval for a $0.34 per share dividend payable on July 18th, 2017.

Intuit in the fourth quarter of FY 17 expects the earnings per share in the range of $0.16 to $0.18, ahead of the analyst’s consensus view of $0.15. The company also expects the fourth quarter revenues between $795 and $815 million, which is the growth of 5 to 8 percent, compared to the analysts’ view of $782.18 million.

Additionally, Intuit has raised the FY 17 outlook. INTU expects for FY 17, the revenue of $5.13 billion to $5.15 billion, which is a growth of 9 to 10 percent. The non-GAAP operating income is expected to be in the range of $1.705 billion to $1.725 billion, which is a growth of 10 to 11 percent. The non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for FY 17 is expected to be in the range of $4.38 to $4.40, growth of 16 percent. The QuickBooks Online subscribers is expected to be of 2.3 million for FY 17.

Intuit stock has risen 25.35% in the last one year (as of May 23rd, 2017; Source: Google Finance). INTU stock rose over 8.6% in the pre-market session today (as of May 24th, 2017).