Adds details in paragraphs 3, CFO comment in paragraph 5, 9, details in paragraphs 6-7

By Jaspreet Singh

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Intuit INTU.O forecast first-quarter revenue growth below analysts' estimates on Thursday, hit by sluggish performance at its marketing platform Mailchimp, sending the shares down nearly 6% in extended trading.

The company provides products such as tax-preparation software TurboTax, personal finance portal Credit Karma and accounting software QuickBooks.

Mailchimp, acquired in 2021 and housed within Intuit's Global Business Solutions unit, saw its fourth-quarter revenue decline slightly, the company said.

CFO Sandeep Aujla told Reuters that Mailchimp is a near-term drag on growth, but the company has initiatives underway and expects it to be performing well by the year-end.

"The small businesses are the bread and butter of Mailchimp," Aujla said, adding they found it "a bit harder to use", which hurts retention and expansion.

Intuit has largely completed the shift from QuickBooks Desktop licenses to subscriptions and closed the pricing gap with QuickBooks Online, resulting in slower Desktop growth.

Excluding Mailchimp, the revenue growth slowdown is due to lower contribution from price increases expected in fiscal 2026, particularly in Desktop, the company said.

With the launch of AI agents — systems capable of taking actions on behalf of users — for its QuickBooks portfolio, Intuit also raised the prices of its QuickBooks Online and Payroll subscription services last month.

"Every time we do a price change, we realize that we were too conservative, but customer attrition ends up being below our expectations," Aujla said.

Intuit expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be between $21 billion and $21.19 billion, largely in line with analysts' average estimate of $21.12 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its annual adjusted profit per share forecast of $22.98 to $23.18 was also broadly in line with estimates of $23.

The company's projection for first-quarter revenue growth of 14% to 15% came in below estimates of 16.1% growth.

Intuit forecast adjusted earnings per share of $3.05 to $3.12 for the quarter, compared with estimates of $3.07.

The fourth-quarter revenue grew 20% to $3.83 billion, beating estimates of $3.75 billion. The adjusted EPS of $2.75 also exceeded estimates of $2.66.

Additionally, Intuit's board approved a new $3.2 billion share buyback, lifting total repurchase authorization to $5.3 billion.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

((Jaspreet.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; on X @i_jass;))