Which Tax Company's Success Is Most Dependent On Tax Season?

Tax Day is now less than one week away. While procrastinating Americans are scrambling to get their filings in before the deadline, traders are watching tax stocks H & R Block Inc HRB, Liberty Tax Inc TAX and Intuit Inc. INTU closely.

H&R Block In Focus

Filing season is understandably critically important for these three companies, and a look back at the past four quarters of financial data reveal tax season is most critical for H&R Block. In the past four quarters, 76.4 percent of H&R Block’s total revenue came in Q2.

While all three names have lopsided Q2 revenue numbers, H&R Block's number far exceeds the 62.4 percent of Liberty Tax’s total revenue that came from Q2 and the 47.5 percent of Intuit’s total revenue that came in Q2.

It seems investors aren’t particularly optimistic about a strong tax season this year. While all three tax stocks are up at least 2.2 percent so far in 2017, they have all lagged the S&P 500 in that time.

Looking ahead, Wall Street sees the most potential upside for Liberty Tax. The consensus analyst price targets represent a 28.5 percent upside for Liberty Tax, 6.2 percent upside for Intuit and 2.2 percent downside for H&R Block, according to CNN Money.

Related Links: How Tax Company Earnings Fared In Q4

Best Tax Season Play: Intuit's Turbo Tax Vs. HR Block Vs. Liberty Tax