Shares of Intuit Inc. INTU, -7.68% were falling more than 8% in Tuesday afternoon trading after Bloomberg News reported that the company was pausing hiring in its Credit Karma segment amid “revenue challenges due to the uncertainty of the economic environment.” The report cited an email that was sent to employees. Intuit didn’t immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment. Analysts said that Tuesday’s stock selloff seemed an overreaction. “Given that INTU has been outperforming since its analyst day, any negative news could trigger some selling and breaking back below its 50/100-day MA [moving average] doesn’t help, but the magnitude of the pullback today seems a bit much,” wrote Evercore ISI’s Kirk Materne. He noted that Credit Karma only accounts for about 14% of the company’s total revenue and that Intuit’s management already spoke of expectations for a deceleration at Credit Karma. Materne called Tuesday’s stock action “a bit overdone.” Mizuho’s Siti Panigrahi seemed to agree, writing that a hiring freeze appears “prudent.” Panigrahi added: “We view the current weakness as a buying opportunity and do not expect the company to lower estimates at the Q1 earnings call scheduled on November 29.” Intuit shares have lost 12% over the past three months as the S&P 500 SPX, -0.32% has fallen 6%.
