Intuit forecast slower sales growth in the year ahead as it navigates declines in its desktop business and attempts to woo more customers to its TurboTax platform.

Intuit stock fell about 14% in after hours trading. The stock had been down about 46% so far this year.

The company, known for its tax-preparation and accounting software, said it expects revenue to increase 9% to 10% for fiscal 2027, slowing from 14% growth this year. The forecast missed Wall Street's projection for a roughly 11% increase, according to FactSet.

Some of the initiatives planned to attract customers to its do-it-yourself tax filing software could involve short-term trade-offs for the business, with the expectation of a payoff down the line, according to Chief Financial Officer Sandeep Aujla.

"I look at the period we're entering as a reset to reaccelerate," Aujla said in an interview.

The Mountain View, Calif. company is working this year on attracting customers new to the franchise, which it views as the lifeblood of future revenue growth, Aujla said. In particular, the company is looking to attract TurboTax customers with adjusted gross incomes around $50,000, potentially with free offerings, in the hopes of eventually selling them other services, he said.

"We are going to look at opening up the aperture on how we acquire those customers, including possibly free offerings," he said. "We're going to deliberately take a hit on our tax DIY, do-it-yourself tax offering."

The company's guidance also includes expected declines in its desktop business, and the performance of its Mailchimp business, he said.

The forecast comes as Intuit focuses on scaling its "big bets," the term it uses to describe efforts to remake itself into an artificial intelligence-first platform. In May, the company disclosed plans to lay off 17% of its workforce and invest the savings into those bets.

The company also forecast earnings per share of $20.12 to $20.36 for the upcoming year, and adjusted earnings per share of $22.88 to $23.12, which includes a $5.81 headwind from a share-based compensation expense. Analysts expect earnings per share of $19.34 and adjusted earnings per share of $27.34, when excluding the impact of share-based compensation.

For the fiscal first quarter, Intuit expects earnings per share of $1.71 to $1.75 on revenue of $4.29 billion to $4.31 billion, or up 11%. Analysts project earnings per share of $2.03 and revenue growth of about 12%.

The forecasts came as the company recorded a lower profit in its latest quarter, despite higher revenue.

Intuit wrapped up its fiscal year with a fourth-quarter profit of $363 million, or $1.34 a share, compared with $381 million, or $1.35 a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings per share were $4.03, compared with analyst estimates of $3.58.

Revenue rose 14% to $4.35 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $4.27 billion.

By segment, revenue from Intuit's global business solutions unit gained 14% to $3.4 billion, helped by higher prices and customer growth for its QuickBooks online accounting business. Consumer revenue also increased 14%, to $930 million, with particularly strong growth for Credit Karma.