Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) expects millions of consumers to use AI agents to complete purchases by the 2026 holiday season. The question for investors is what happens when those agents start deciding not only what to buy, but how to pay for it.

In February, Citrini Research published a hypothetical scenario in which AI agents identified the cost attached to card transactions and shifted settlement toward cheaper stablecoin infrastructure. Visa, Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) and DoorDash Inc. (NYSE:DASH) fell after the report.

There is an important distinction in Visa’s case. The company does not earn the 2% to 3% interchange fee, which moves from acquirers to issuing banks. Visa says in its annual report that the fees it receives from issuers and acquirers are not derived from interchange or merchant discount rates.

The more serious bear case is that agents unbundle the payment stack. If an agent can choose a cheaper settlement rail while sourcing identity, authorization and fraud protection elsewhere, Visa loses volume without ever having collected the interchange fee.

Visa Wants To Make Its Trust Layer Harder To RemoveVisa launched Agentic Ready in Europe on March 17, then expanded it to Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada. More than 50 issuers joined the Asia Pacific rollout alone. The program lets banks test enrollment, tokenization, authentication and transaction controls before agent-led purchases reach volume.

The strategic objective is to keep the credentials, permissions and protections surrounding an agent transaction attached to Visa’s infrastructure. Consumer caution helps that case. A Visa survey published in April found only 27% of Americans were comfortable letting an AI agent spend without limits, while 60% would not allow an agent to spend any amount without approval.

Early Tests And The Copyability ProblemIn December, Visa said it had completed hundreds of real-world agent-initiated transactions with more than 100 partners. DBS Group Holdings Ltd (OTC:DBSDF) has piloted agent-initiated purchases with Visa in Singapore, and on Aug. 19 DBS Hong Kong announced a partnership with Visa and Preface to extend that work to consumers.

For Visa, copyability cuts both ways. If no single bank can build a lasting moat around agentic features, value may migrate to the infrastructure that lets many banks deploy them. The opposite outcome is also possible: large banks could build more of the stack themselves and connect it to non-card rails. Mastercard is already there, having introduced Agent Pay for Machines in June to settle across cards, accounts and stablecoins.

Stablecoins Make Citrini’s Scenario More CredibleOn Sept. 1, 21 financial institutions including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo announced plans for a bank-issued dollar stablecoin targeting a first-half 2027 launch. The institutions on the issuing side of today’s card ecosystem are building another settlement option, and software can compare rails on every transaction in a way people do not.

Visa is hedging. It joined more than 140 companies behind the Open USD stablecoin in June and launched its own Stablecoin Platform in July. Its Intelligent Commerce Connect product, introduced in April, accepts both Visa and non-Visa cards across four agent protocols. The company appears to be preparing for a world in which the rail underneath a transaction changes while Visa still supplies the identity, tokenization and trust layer around it. That role may come with thinner economics.

What Investors Should WatchVisa enters this transition from strength. Fiscal third-quarter net revenue rose 14% to $11.6 billion, and processed transactions rose 10% to 71.7 billion. Agentic payments are far too small to move those numbers yet.

Watch how many Agentic Ready issuers move from testing into production, how quickly banks copy DBS, and whether Visa starts disclosing agent-initiated volume. The decisive evidence will come when an agent picks something other than a card. If Visa still earns on identity, authentication and orchestration in that transaction, Citrini’s scenario changes the business without displacing it. If those functions can be bought more cheaply elsewhere, the bear case gets much harder to dismiss.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

In the latest trading session, Visa (V - Free Report) closed at $369.08, marking a -1.6% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.58%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 1.18%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.32%.

The stock of global payments processor has risen by 3.81% in the past month, leading the Business Services sector's loss of 1.01% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.36%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Visa in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $3.43, marking a 15.1% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $12.07 billion, indicating a 12.56% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $13.16 per share and revenue of $45.83 billion, which would represent changes of +14.73% and +14.58%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Visa. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher. Right now, Visa possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Visa is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 28.5. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 13.56.

One should further note that V currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.01. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Financial Transaction Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.87.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 184, finds itself in the bottom 26% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

Artificial intelligence may be changing where consumers decide what to buy before it changes where they pay for it.

“We are seeing adoption for shopping, but not yet for autonomous payments,” Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said Tuesday (Sept. 8) at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.

Consumers are using large language models and other platforms to compare products, shop and identify items, McInerney said, but are still moving to sellers’ websites to complete transactions. Getting beyond that point presents a trust problem on both sides. Sellers need to know that agents entering their sites are legitimate and have been empowered by consumers to transact. Consumers have to trust agents with their money and financial information.

“The barrier to that, if I had to describe it in one word, would be trust,” McInerney stated during the appearance at the conference.

He said three-quarters of consumers surveyed didn’t trust agentic platforms to make payments autonomously with their money and financial information. When asked whether they would trust an agent to make payments if Visa were involved, 61% said yes. McInerney said that figure exceeded 70% among consumers who use LLMs at least weekly.

Fraud prevention is also moving further upstream. McInerney said Visa has traditionally provided banks and merchants with tools to identify transaction fraud, while clients are now seeking products that address identity risk before it results in a fraudulent transaction.

“Identity has become a critical area of vulnerability,” he said in discussing Visa’s planned BioCatch acquisition. McInerney said BioCatch can help clients protect identities on mobile devices before identity theft leads to a fraudulent transaction.

Cybersecurity ranks among the most pressing issues McInerney hears from financial institutions, which he called a “top 3 issue” for every client he talks to around the world. Visa is also applying newer AI tools internally. McInerney said its teams are producing 80% more code commits, reducing the time required to design and build a product by 80% and developing features 65% faster.

Tokens Give Payment Networks Another Route to Customers Tokens are also giving Visa a way to distribute services beyond the payment credential itself.

“As we’ve scaled our tokens around the world, that gives us a distribution platform for more risk-and-identity solutions, as well as transaction solutions,” McInerney said.

He said Visa has captured only a “very low single digits” share of the addressable markets it sees across issuer services, acceptance, risk and identity, and advisory. Global credential growth has been running at roughly 6% to 7%-plus, which McInerney said helps fuel further growth in issuing revenue.

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Processing represents another part of that expansion. McInerney said two issues drove Visa’s decision to acquire Pismo. Many bank CEOs were deciding whether to move their technology to the cloud, while FinTechs expanding rapidly into emerging markets and other countries were struggling to find issuer-processing technology capable of expanding with them.

“They couldn’t find an issuer processing stack that was global enough, nimble enough, and cloud-native,” he said.

In the U.S., McInerney said Visa sees a market among small and mid-sized banks and FinTechs seeking integrated credit and debit issuer processing. He expects the largest, more sophisticated issuers to continue operating customized credit and debit stacks separately. Visa is also encountering demand for integrated issuer processing outside the U.S.

Core modernization has proceeded more slowly. McInerney said few large banks globally have moved their cores to the cloud, although many are considering or working on such moves. Cloud-based cores, he said, can make banks more agile and allow them to deploy products more quickly.

The scope of issuer negotiations reflects that broader set of products. McInerney said issuers are looking beyond consumer payments to commercial payments, Visa Direct, value-added services and processing, including issuer and core technology.

Money movement adds another set of markets. McInerney put the remaining addressable market in consumer payments at roughly $2 trillion, much of it still represented by cash and checks in markets around the world. Visa Direct, he said, reaches 18 billion endpoints across accounts, cards and wallets and supports P2P, B2C and C2B transactions. He also identified higher-value cross-border B2B payments as an opportunity.

Stablecoins could serve some of those cross-border use cases. McInerney said Visa sees product-market fit in two areas. One is what he described as probably 50 countries where consumers, families and businesses have wanted to hold U.S. dollars but have faced cost, availability or other barriers to doing so through bank accounts. The second is cross-border money movement, including remittances and B2B payments.

The newer businesses are developing against consumer spending that McInerney described as showing “strength and stability.” He said Visa’s U.S. business has grown roughly 6% to 8% for about a year and a half, reached 10% growth in the latest quarter and was running at approximately 9% through August. Cross-border growth accelerated from about 12% in the previous quarter to 14% through August, with eCommerce continuing to grow faster than travel.

Competition also extends beyond other global payment networks. McInerney said payment sovereignty has become a more prominent subject in Europe, where domestic card networks and digital wallets already compete with international networks and Wero is developing another European alternative.

“The market is competitive, and it’ll get more competitive,” he said.

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TOKYO and NEW YORK, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advasa Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBT) (“ADVASA” or the “Company”), a fintech payment holding company providing Earned Wage Access (“EWA”) and next-generation financial infrastructure solutions through its Japanese operating subsidiary ADVASA Co., Ltd., today announced a significant upgrade to its existing ADVASA Visa card: it now features seamless payment functionality using USD Coin (“USDC”), alongside traditional fiat currency.

This new capability expands upon ADVASA’s robust payment infrastructure and its proprietary FUKUPE EWA platform. Designed to provide employees with instant, on-demand access to their earned wages before the standard payday, FUKUPE connects earned wage access to a flexible suite of disbursement channels—including bank accounts, supported prepaid cards, and digital wallets. Integrating USDC payments into the ADVASA Visa card represents a strategic evolution of the Company’s financial technology ecosystem, broadening the choice and flexibility available to its users.

ADVASA also believes that the continued expansion of digital payment options has the potential to contribute to greater financial inclusion. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025, approximately 1.3 billion adults worldwide remain without a financial account, while approximately 900 million of those adults own a mobile phone.[1] The Company believes that expanding access to digital payment options, including the ability to use USDC alongside traditional fiat currency, may provide additional pathways to payment services for financially underserved populations, particularly in markets where access to traditional financial infrastructure remains limited.

Looking ahead, ADVASA also plans to explore potential opportunities in the real-world assets (“RWA”) sector. While changing the way people access and receive their earned wages remains central to ADVASA’s mission, the Company sees potential opportunities in RWA as a natural extension of its financial technology and payment infrastructure. The asset tokenization market has been projected to reach approximately $18.9 trillion by 2033, underscoring the potential scale of this emerging sector.[2] ADVASA intends to consider how its existing technologies and experience in expanding financial access could potentially be applied to this evolving market.

“The addition of USDC payment functionality to the ADVASA Visa card represents another step in expanding the payment capabilities available through our platform,” said Grady Ryther, Chief Executive Officer of Advasa Holdings, Inc. “As the digital payments landscape continues to evolve, we intend to further enhance our payment capabilities while also exploring potential opportunities in the RWA sector that may complement our broader financial technology ecosystem.”

About ADVASA
Advasa Holdings, Inc. (corporate website: https://adbt.io/) is a fintech payment holding company established in Delaware conducting operations through its Japanese subsidiary ADVASA Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan (corporate website: https://www.advasa.co.jp/en/, Founder and Representative Director: Asamitsu Kosugi). ADVASA operates “FUKUPE,” an EWA platform that allows employees to receive wages they have already earned in real time. Leveraging a global patent strategy, the Company has established an intellectual property foundation across markets including Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Singapore. By integrating seamlessly with major HR and payroll systems as well as diverse payment infrastructures (such as bank transfers and e-wallets), ADVASA plans to expand from Japan into global markets—including Indonesia and the UAE where the need for financial inclusion is rapidly growing.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs.

These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s plans and expectations concerning its payment-related financial technology capabilities, digital payment infrastructure, the future utility of digital assets, the potential contribution of expanded digital payment functionality to financial inclusion, the Company’s consideration and exploration of potential opportunities involving RWA and RWA-related technologies and services, and the continued development and expansion of its products and services. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including changes in laws and regulations applicable to digital assets, stablecoins, and RWA, technological and cybersecurity risks, market conditions, and general economic, industry and regulatory conditions in the United States and internationally. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “could,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “aim,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “likely,” “potential,” “project,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations will prove correct. Investors are encouraged to review the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect the Company’s future results identified in the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-292013), declared effective by the SEC on August 11, 2026, the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 filed with the SEC on August 12, 2026, and subsequent disclosure documents the Company may file with the SEC. The Company claims the protection of the Safe Harbor contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for forward-looking statements.

Contacts:
ADVASA Investor Relations Email: [email protected]
Website: https://adbt.io/
X: @AdvasaHoldings (https://x.com/AdvasaHoldings)

References
[1] World Bank, Global Findex 2025. Available at: https://digitalfinance.worldbank.org/
[2] Ripple and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Approaching the Tokenization Tipping Point, April 2025. Available at: https://media-publications.bcg.com/Tokenized-Assets.pdf

Visa
V +3.06% 99

, the world's largest electronic-payments network, surged roughly 2.4% to $380.2511 Monday afternoon as financial stocks pulled the Dow higher. The shares hit $381.91 during the session, punching deeper into record territory while the Nasdaq stumbled.

The numbers explain the confidence. Fiscal third-quarter revenue jumped 14% to $11.6 billion, while adjusted net income landed at $6.3 billion. Payments volume rose 10%. Processed transactions rose 10%. Cross-border volume excluding Europe climbed another 12%. More spending, more transactions, more fees flowing through Visa's machine.

Visa does not need expensive factories or billion-dollar bets on the next chip cycle. It gets paid whenever money moves across its network. The chart shows the stock trading 9.95% below its $422.27 GF Value estimate, suggesting room beyond the latest record run. But at roughly 32 times earnings, perfection is already expensive—and weaker consumer spending or tougher merchant-fee regulation could quickly test that premium.

Check the Warning Signs for

V

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Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,906 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in V. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $29,038,140,000 after purchasing an additional 626,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,411,395,000 after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $14,411,480,000 after purchasing an additional 716,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after purchasing an additional 398,459 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently weighed in on V. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $412.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $430.00 price target (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $413.58.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on V Visa Price Performance V stock opened at $366.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $352.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.35. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $373.97. The company has a market capitalization of $653.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 22.79%.

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. The trade was a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile (Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Inc., attends his company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in New York City, U.S., April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesNew holdings also include Alcon, Intercontinental Exchange and S&P GlobalAckman says shares were acquired from second quarter for funds including Pershing Square USABelieves new additions are set for strong growthNEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Bill Ackman unveiled six ​new holdings including Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab, Visa (V.N), opens new tab and Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab, marking the billionaire investor's biggest portfolio overhaul in years.

Ackman said ‌on Thursday he acquired shares starting in the second quarter that will be held in his investment funds including his newest offering Pershing Square USA , which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April.

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Along with Netflix, which Ackman held briefly in 2022 before selling at ​a loss, his funds are also investing in eye care firm Alcon , exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N), opens new tab and financial ​data provider S&P Global (SPGI.N), opens new tab.

Ackman said he believes the firms' earnings are poised for strong growth, which ⁠he views as the greatest driver of investment value over time.

Ackman, whose stock picks are closely tracked by professional ​investors and his 2.7 million followers on social media platform X, this year added Microsoft to the portfolio after its stock ​price dropped following an earnings report, arguing that the software giant would rebound when investors acknowledged its investments in artificial intelligence. Microsoft has since bounced back, thanks in part to outsize gains following its latest earnings report.

RECENT CHALLENGESThe new additions mark the biggest overhaul in years for Ackman’s portfolio, ​which traditionally owns no more than a dozen companies.

Ackman's funds have performed strongly over the long haul but have ​faced challenges recently. Through July, Pershing Square USA was down 3.5% for the year and London-listed Pershing Square Holdings (PSHP.L), opens new tab was down 9.2%, compared ‌with ⁠a 13% gain for the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab.

In addition to Microsoft, Ackman's portfolio includes Uber Technologies, Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, among others.

Ackman is expected to discuss the investments on an analyst call later on Thursday.

On Friday, the new names will likely show up in 13-F filings, required by the Securities and Exchange Commission of fund managers with ownership ​stakes in U.S. companies at ​the end of the previous ⁠quarter. The reports are closely tracked by investors for hints on trends.

This has been a busy year for Ackman. The fund manager listed both his hedge fund and his new ​stock picking fund Pershing Square USA on the New York Stock Exchange, exited his estimated $1.5 ​billion position in ⁠Universal Music Group after the company that represents Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny rejected his $65 billion takeover bid -- and turned 60 years old.

While Ackman began as one of Wall Street’s most voluble activists, pushing for improved performance at companies ranging from Canadian Pacific ⁠Railway ​to Chipotle Mexican Grill, he prefers to be known as a value ​investor who has good ideas that corporate management teams want to hear about.

Four years ago Ackman said he was retiring his noisy tactics and adopting ​a quieter approach, characterized by cordial interactions with management teams.

Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, additional reporting by Colin Barr Editing by Keith Weir

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Key Takeaways Visa is combining Pismo and DPS to expand modern issuer-processing solutions for banks and fintechs.Visa plans to pilot DPS Full Service Credit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 with its first U.S. client.Pismo has entered 19 new markets, helping financial institutions modernize core banking and move to the cloud. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is focusing on deepening its role in banking infrastructure as it combines the capabilities of Pismo and DPS to address growing demand for modern issuer-processing solutions. The strategy could help Visa expand relationships with smaller and midsized banks and fintechs, giving it a greater role in the technology infrastructure that supports everyday banking.

Pismo provides a cloud-native, API-based platform covering products including debit, credit, commercial payments and current accounts, while DPS remains a leading U.S. debit issuer-processing platform. V is expanding these capabilities with DPS Full Service Credit, an integrated credit issuer-processing solution combining Visa, DPS and Pismo for fintechs and small to midsized banks. The company plans to pilot the solution in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 with its first U.S. client, with general availability expected next year.

Visa is also using Pismo to help financial institutions modernize their core banking platforms and migrate to the cloud. The platform has entered 19 new markets since its acquisition, with demand coming from clients of different sizes for both issuer processing and core banking services. This broader reach could allow V to become more deeply embedded in clients’ technology stacks and expand its presence across the banking ecosystem.

Still, the strategy is a longer-term growth play rather than an immediate revenue catalyst. Visa focuses on strengthening client relationships, expanding its product footprint and addressing evolving technology needs. If adoption builds across banks and fintechs, the platform could give V another avenue to diversify revenues while reinforcing its position across the financial-services ecosystem.

How Are Competitors Faring?Some of V’s competitors in the fintech space include Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) .

Mastercard is deepening its role in banking infrastructure through switching, reaching 72% penetration and providing switching technology for the UAE’s domestic payments infrastructure. MA also won several hundred issuer flips and deal expansions in the first half of 2026, supporting longer-term network and services growth.

PayPal is focused on modernizing its payment ecosystem through cloud-based technology, AI-driven commerce tools and faster checkout solutions. PYPL continues to expand Venmo, strengthen merchant capabilities and integrate AI-powered features, positioning itself to benefit from rising digital-payment activity across online, mobile and omnichannel commerce.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, shares of Visa have gained 7.3%, outperforming the industry’s 12.3% fall.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, well above the industry average of 18.64. V carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.7% jump from the year-ago period.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 5th, 2026

BDF Gestion decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,123 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,612 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 1.4% of BDF Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Visa were worth $11,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Visa by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its stake in Visa by 4.6% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its position in Visa by 16.9% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Visa by 13.8% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,398 shares of company stock worth $35,831,433. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

Positive Sentiment: BioCatch acquisition strengthens Visa’s cybersecurity strategy. Visa will acquire the behavioral-intelligence provider to detect account takeovers, scams, money-mule activity and application fraud before transactions reach the payment network. BioCatch analyzes keystrokes, touchscreen behavior, device handling and other signals, potentially improving fraud detection and reducing false declines for banks and merchants. The deal also supports Visa’s faster-growing Value-Added Services business and could create recurring, network-agnostic software revenue. Visa to buy cybersecurity firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion amid surge in AI-powered scams Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin usage is expanding across Visa’s network. Western Union and Rain launched a stablecoin-based product that allows users to hold dollar value and spend it at Visa merchants and ATMs. Broader adoption could increase payment volume and reinforce Visa’s role as an important bridge between digital assets, consumers and traditional commerce. Western Union and Rain Take Stablecoins Mainstream Across Visa Network Positive Sentiment: Visa data highlighted strong event-driven spending. Card-present spending in Toronto and Vancouver rose as much as 24.6% and 12.7%, respectively, during FIFA World Cup 2026 matchdays versus the comparable 2025 period. While temporary, the results demonstrate Visa’s ability to facilitate international tourism and concentrated commerce during major events. Visa data shows FIFA World Cup 2026 drove spending lift in Canada’s host cities Neutral Sentiment: Visa also announced sponsorship and partnership initiatives, including official payment-partner status for Maroon 5’s 2027 Asia tour and expanded commercial-credit capabilities through partners Thredd and Pliant. These announcements support brand visibility and payments adoption but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. Negative Sentiment: The BioCatch transaction requires a substantial $2.4 billion cash outlay, and its financial benefit depends on successful integration and cross-selling. Investors may also weigh recent insider selling, with several Visa executives selling shares and no reported purchases over the past six months, although such activity can reflect scheduled compensation or portfolio decisions. Visa Stock Performance Shares of Visa stock opened at $369.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $342.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.21. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $373.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $662.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $406.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.12.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on V

Visa Profile (Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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A Visa credit card is seen on a computer keyboard in this picture illustration taken September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesAug 3 (Reuters) - Visa (V.N), opens new tab said on Monday it would buy fraud ​intelligence provider BioCatch for $2.4 ‌billion in cash, as the card giant looks to beef ​up its cybersecurity offerings.

The ​company said the deal would ⁠further bolster its existing ​cyber, fraud, risk and security ​offerings and enable it to help clients better protect themselves.

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"Account takeovers ​and scams cost the ​global economy over $1 trillion annually and AI ‌is ⁠enabling these attacks at unprecedented scale," said Andrew Torre, president of value-added services, ​Visa.

"BioCatch will ​help ⁠our clients stop fraud before it reaches ​the point of payment."

The ​transaction ⁠is expected to close by the end of Visa's ⁠fiscal ​second quarter ​of 2027.

Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 71,641 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $21,653,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of V. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after buying an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Visa by 29,706.3% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after buying an additional 7,308,345 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Visa by 12,497.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after buying an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,282,472,000 after buying an additional 2,116,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Key Visa News Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

Positive Sentiment: Quarterly results exceeded expectations. Visa reported fiscal Q3 revenue of $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year and ahead of the roughly $11.40 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted EPS was $3.32, compared with expectations of $3.23 and $2.98 a year earlier. The company also reported $5.63 billion in profit. Visa Surpasses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates Positive Sentiment: Spending and transaction growth remained resilient. Double-digit growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions indicates continued strength in consumer and business spending, supporting Visa’s core payments outlook. Visa Expands Money Movement as Card Spending Accelerates Positive Sentiment: New growth initiatives could expand Visa’s addressable market. Visa highlighted investments in stablecoin settlement, tokenized deposits, wallet infrastructure, commercial payments and money movement. Its participation in the OpenStandard consortium and plans to support OpenUSD could create longer-term opportunities beyond traditional card transactions. Visa Outlines Stablecoin Strategy Neutral Sentiment: X Money provides a potential incremental payments channel. Elon Musk’s X launched a broader banking and payments product using Visa-branded debit cards and Cross River Bank’s infrastructure. The partnership may increase card volumes, but its financial contribution to Visa is not yet clear. X Money Launches With Visa Debit Card Negative Sentiment: Margin concerns limited the market’s reaction. Despite the earnings beat, investors focused on profitability and expense trends, leading to weakness in extended trading. Visa’s planned restructuring also introduces execution and severance-cost risks. Negative Sentiment: Workforce reductions underscore a significant transition. Visa plans to eliminate approximately 2,600 positions, or 7% of its workforce, primarily in technology and product operations, as it uses AI to improve efficiency and redirect investment toward stablecoins, B2B payments and other growth areas. While potentially positive for costs, the cuts may raise concerns about disruption and future innovation. Visa Workforce Reduction Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Loop Capital began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $399.41.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Visa

Insider Buying and Selling In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. This represents a 58.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,126 shares of company stock worth $14,928,871. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Price Performance Shares of NYSE:V opened at $366.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $657.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $325.25. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $371.16.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Profile (Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

See Also Five stocks we like better than Visa These 3 Stocks Have Soared in 2026—Can They Keep Climbing? Hasbro’s Earnings Beat Shows Why This Is No Longer Just a Toy Story Rambus: Another AI Phoenix Ready to Rise From the Ashes of Correction Chips & Clips: Memory Tariffs Rewire Tech Supply Chains

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V stock is moving. Watch the price action here. Visa Q3 Details    Visa reported quarterly earnings of $3.32 per share, which beat the consensus estimate of $3.23, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Quarterly revenue came in at $11.63 billion, just ahead of the Street estimate of $11.39 billion.   

Visa highlighted the following key business drivers:

Payments Volume up 10% year over year Cross-Border Volume Excluding Intra-Europe up 12% year-over-year Cross-Border Volume Total up 13% year-over-year Processed Transactions up 10% year-over-year “Visa delivered a strong fiscal third quarter, with net revenue up 14% year-over-year, GAAP EPS up 10% and non-GAAP EPS up 11%. Consumer and business spending remains resilient, and our strategy continues to deliver strong performance across consumer payments, commercial and money movement solutions and value-added services,” said CEO Ryan McInerney.

V Stock Price Activity: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Visa stock was down 2.34% to $358 in Tuesday’s extended trading.  

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A man sits in a room at the Visa booth during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, China June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

July 28 (Reuters) - Visa (V.N), opens new tab plans to cut 7% of its workforce, or about 2,600 jobs, a company spokesperson ​said on Tuesday, about six months after a similar step ‌by its closest peer as the payments processor seeks to become more efficient.

The job cuts will primarily affect technology and product teams.

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"To capture the ​opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this ​transformation, we must continue evolving how we work,” CEO ⁠Ryan McInerney wrote in a staff memo, excerpts from which ​were confirmed by the company spokesperson.

Artifical Intelligence is also speeding up ​this shift and influencing how work is carried out at Visa, he added.

AI has helped cut repetitive tasks and speed up product development, but ​it was not the sole factor behind the decision, according ​to Bloomberg News, which first reported the cuts, citing a person familiar ‌with ⁠the company's reasoning.

The company is set to report its quarterly results after the market close on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, peer Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab announced plans to lay off 4% of its global workforce, ​citing the need ​to refocus investments ⁠in different areas. Fintech firm Block also said in February it would cut nearly half ​its workforce, or 4,000 jobs.

According to the company's ​annual report ⁠for 2025, Visa had about 34,100 employees in 2025, an increase of 8% year over year.

Shares of the company were up 1% ⁠in early ​morning trading.

They have gained just over ​3% so far in 2026, underperforming the broader market but outperforming its closest ​peer Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab.

Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Bollard Group LLC grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) by 22.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,929 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $9,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in V. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,038,140,000 after buying an additional 626,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after buying an additional 388,996 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Visa by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,411,480,000 after buying an additional 716,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Visa by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after buying an additional 398,459 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets V has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $399.41.

View Our Latest Report on Visa

Visa Trading Up 1.0% NYSE V opened at $355.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.34. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $365.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $637.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Visa In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,704.26. The trade was a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial raised its price target on Visa to $394 from $371 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling more upside as analysts remain constructive on the stock. Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Visa, adding to the bullish analyst momentum around the company’s earnings outlook and business fundamentals. Positive Sentiment: Several reports suggest Visa could deliver another “business as usual” earnings beat next week, supported by resilient consumer credit demand, strong payment volumes, and ongoing digital payments growth. Positive Sentiment: Visa also continues to announce new partnerships, including embedded-finance and agentic-commerce initiatives with Airwallex and Lianlian, which highlight continued expansion opportunities in business-to-business and next-generation payments. Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary comparing Visa and Mastercard favorably to American Express after AMEX’s post-earnings selloff may be helping keep Visa steady, but it is more of an industry read-through than a company-specific catalyst. Neutral Sentiment: Visa is also drawing attention as a “wide-moat” stock, reflecting its durable competitive position, though that is mainly a long-term quality argument rather than a fresh near-term driver. Visa Profile (Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Visa AMD and Cerbras Create A New Blueprint For Hardware Intel Earnings Reveal Whether the Chip Selloff Created a Buy CrowdStrike’s Cerebras Deal Puts Its AI Security Strategy to the Test Plugging In: How Kinder Morgan Powers Up Profits Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report).

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Key Takeaways V reports fiscal Q3 results on July 28 with the consensus mark suggesting 8.4% EPS and 11.6% revenue growth.V has a positive Earnings ESP, a favorable rank and has topped earnings estimates for four straight quarters.Payment volumes, cross-border spending and digital payments to support Visa's quarterly growth. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on July 28, 2026, after market close. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings is currently pegged at $3.23 per share on revenues of $11.35 billion.

The estimate for fiscal third-quarter earnings has witnessed one upward movement and no downward revisions over the past 60 days. The bottom-line projection indicates a year-over-year increase of 8.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues suggests year-over-year growth of 11.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

For fiscal 2026, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s revenues is pegged at $45.37 billion, implying a rise of 13.4% year over year. The consensus mark for EPS is pegged at $13.13, suggesting a jump of around 14.5% on a year-over-year basis.

The payments juggernaut has a robust history of surpassing earnings estimates. It beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the average being 3.2%???. This is depicted in the graph below:

Q3 Earnings Whispers for VisaOur proven model predicts a likely earnings beat for the company this time around as well. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is precisely the case here.

Visa has an Earnings ESP of +0.12% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Factors Shaping Visa’s Q3 ResultsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate suggests a 7.2% increase in total Gross Dollar Volume from the previous year, while our model predicts 7.3% growth. The growing adoption and popularity of digital payment methods are likely to contribute positively to Visa's overall fiscal third-quarter results.

As the company draws revenues as a set percentage of total transaction value every time a customer makes payments with a debit/credit card, higher spending means more revenues in the form of transaction processing fees. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal third-quarter total processed transactions implies 9.2% year-over-year growth.

The consensus mark for total payment volumes indicates an 8.8% year-over-year increase. We expect the metric for U.S. operations alone to jump nearly 7% year over year. Similarly, our model predicts 14% year-over-year growth in Latin America and 14.6% in CEMEA.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for data processing revenues indicates 13.6% growth in the fiscal third quarter from the year-ago level of $5.15 billion, while our estimate suggests a 15.3% increase. Similarly, the consensus mark for service revenues suggests 12% year-over-year growth, whereas we expect the metric to grow 13% from $4.33 billion.

Furthermore, the consensus estimate for international transaction revenues indicates 7.9% growth from a year ago. Continuous growth in cross-border volumes is expected to have supported the metric. The FIFA World Cup 2026 event is likely to have provided a boost in June 2026.

The factors stated above are expected to have positioned Visa for strong year-over-year growth in the fiscal third quarter and an earnings beat. However, rising expenses and client incentives (a contra-revenue item) are likely to have partially offset the positive impact of higher volumes.

We expect adjusted total operating expenses for the quarter under review to increase 15.9% year over year due to increased Personnel, Professional Fees, Marketing, and Network and Processing expenses. Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for client incentives is pegged at $4.58 billion for the to-be-reported quarter.

Visa Price Performance & ValuationVisa's stock has gained only 0.8% in the year-to-date period. It still outperformed the industry’s 10.1% fall butunderperformed the S&P 500’s increase of 9.3%. In comparison, its peers like Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) have decreased 6.8% and 5.7%, respectively, during this time.

YTD Price Performance – V, MA, AXP, Industry & S&P 500 Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Now, let’s look at the value Visa offers investors at current levels.

The company’s valuation looks somewhat stretched compared with the industry average. Currently, Visa is trading at 24.34X forward 12-month earnings, above the industry’s average of 16.95X, but still remains below its five-year median of 25.82X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In comparison, Mastercard is trading at 24.93X forward 12-month earnings. American Express, on the other hand, is trading at 18.25X now.

How Should You Play Visa Ahead of Q3 Earnings?Visa enters its fiscal third-quarter earnings report with several factors working in its favor. The company has consistently delivered earnings beats, carries a Zacks Rank #2, and has a positive Earnings ESP, a combination that historically increases the likelihood of another earnings surprise. Healthy payment volumes, resilient cross-border spending, expanding Value-Added Services and growing stablecoin initiatives should continue supporting solid revenue and earnings growth. The FIFA World Cup-related travel activity in June may have provided an additional boost to international transaction revenues.

Beyond the quarter, Visa's long-term investment case remains compelling. The company continues to benefit from the secular shift toward digital payments while successfully expanding into adjacent businesses such as fraud prevention, data services and blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. Its strong cash generation also enables substantial share repurchases and dividend growth, reinforcing shareholder returns.

That said, investors should not ignore the risks. Regulatory scrutiny in the United States and overseas, rising operating expenses, higher client incentives and increasing competition from fintechs and real-time payment networks could weigh on margins over time. In addition, Visa's valuation remains above the industry average, leaving less room for disappointment if results or guidance fall short of expectations.

Overall, with favorable estimate revisions and durable business fundamentals, Visa appears well-positioned heading into earnings. Existing investors should remain confident, while prospective investors may find the stock attractive as the long-term growth story remains intact.

Andra AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,974 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,859 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.9% of Andra AP fonden’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Visa were worth $68,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its stake in Visa by 4.6% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Visa by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Visa by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.36.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Visa

Insiders Place Their Bets In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Up 0.7% Visa stock opened at $361.25 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $365.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $648.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.05.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Company Profile (Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

Read More Five stocks we like better than Visa The Ugliest Stocks in the Market Just Got a Very Expensive Vote of Confidence Is Domino’s Stock Serving Up a Buying Opportunity? A $1T Black Hole: SpaceX Eyes Pentagon AI to Break Free Why Gold Miners Could Be the Market’s Biggest Comeback Story Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report).

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Key Takeaways Visa launched VSP to let institutions mint, redeem, hold and transfer stablecoins on a managed platform.V combines blockchain tools with its payment network, Wallet-as-a-Service and security controls.Visa is testing VSP with select clients before a broader rollout to refine real-world use cases. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is expanding its stablecoin strategy with the launch of the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP), a new enterprise solution that simplifies how financial institutions, fintechs and payment providers access blockchain-based payment capabilities. Instead of developing their own infrastructure, clients can use Visa's managed platform to mint, redeem, hold and transfer stablecoins. The platform initially supports Open USD (OUSD), allowing institutions to integrate stablecoin operations into their existing payment, settlement and treasury workflows.

A key advantage of VSP is that it combines blockchain functionality with Visa's established payment network and security infrastructure. Through its new Wallet-as-a-Service offering, institutions can create or connect onchain wallets, link bank accounts and configure approval policies for stablecoin transactions. Features such as dual-control approvals, audit trails and secure transfer controls are designed to help institutions manage digital assets with the same operational standards they use for traditional payments.

It builds on Visa's growing presence in digital assets. The company already offers stablecoin settlement, stablecoin-linked cards and money movement solutions, and VSP brings these capabilities together under a single platform. This integrated approach could lower the operational barriers for banks and fintechs looking to introduce stablecoin-based products. As more institutions explore blockchain for treasury management, cross-border payments and liquidity optimization, V is positioning itself to capture a larger share.

The platform is currently being tested with select clients, giving V an opportunity to refine real-world use cases before a wider rollout. If adoption gains traction, VSP could strengthen client relationships, expand transaction volumes across Visa's network and create new revenue opportunities.

How Are Competitors Faring?Some of V’s competitors in the payments space include Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) .

Mastercard continues to expand its stablecoin strategy by enabling stablecoin settlement, tokenized deposits and programmable payments. MA is also supporting Open USD as a founding participant, reinforcing its focus on connecting blockchain-based assets with traditional payment infrastructure and commercial use cases.

PayPal is broadening the use of its PYUSD stablecoin across payments, commerce and cross-border transfers. PYPL continues to add merchant and consumer use cases, aiming to integrate stablecoins more deeply into its digital wallet ecosystem and everyday payment experiences.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, shares of Visa have risen 4.6% against the industry’s 16.4% fall.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, well above the industry average of 17.12. V carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.2% jump from the year-ago period.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Visa partnered with ACE Money Transfer to support faster, more secure account funding for remittances.V is expanding its reach across global remittance corridors through ACE's international network.Visa reported 12% year-over-year cross-border volume growth in Q2 FY26. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is strengthening its cross-border payments business through a strategic collaboration with ACE Money Transfer. The partnership will support V's Account Funding Transactions (AFTs), enabling customers to fund international money transfers using eligible payment cards more efficiently. By simplifying the funding process, the collaboration aims to deliver faster, more secure and reliable remittance services while enhancing the overall customer experience.

The agreement expands Visa's footprint in the growing digital remittance market, where consumers increasingly prefer quick and seamless international money transfers. ACE Money Transfer operates across multiple sending countries and more than 100 receiving destinations, giving Visa greater exposure to key remittance corridors. As digital payment adoption accelerates worldwide, the partnership could help drive higher transaction volumes across V's global network.

The collaboration also aligns with Visa's long-term strategy of expanding Visa Direct and strengthening its money movement capabilities. The company continues to invest in real-time payments, cross-border infrastructure and digital payment innovation to support consumers, businesses and financial institutions. Adding AFT capabilities to ACE's platform reinforces V's role in facilitating efficient account-to-account and person-to-person payments beyond traditional card transactions.

The latest collaboration reflects V's continued focus on expanding its payments ecosystem through partnerships that improve speed, security and convenience. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company’s total cross-border volume rose 12% year over year. As demand for digital remittances continues to rise globally, strengthening payment infrastructure and broadening access to trusted money movement solutions could support Visa’s long-term growth across the cross-border payments market.

How Are Competitors Faring?Some of V’s competitors in the payments space include Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) .

Mastercard continues to expand its cross-border payments capabilities through Mastercard Move, enabling faster and more transparent domestic and international money transfers. MA is also strengthening its remittance ecosystem by partnering with financial institutions, fintechs and digital wallet providers to simplify global money movement.

PayPal is broadening its cross-border payments business by enhancing Xoom and its global wallet ecosystem, making international transfers faster and more accessible. PYPL is also integrating blockchain and stablecoin capabilities to improve settlement efficiency and support the evolving digital payments landscape.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, shares of Visa have risen 3% against the industry’s 15.9% fall.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, well above the industry average of 17.09. V carries a Value Score of C.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.2% jump from the year-ago period.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Visa is expanding beyond cards with account transfers, real-time payments and digital currency capabilities.V grew fiscal Q2 2026 revenues 17%, with value-added services revenues rising 27% to $3.3 billion.Visa Direct, tokenization, open banking and AI fraud tools support its evolving multi-rail network. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is steadily expanding beyond its traditional card network into a broader payments platform that supports multiple ways to move money. Along with card payments, the company is expanding its capabilities across account-to-account transfers, real-time payments, cross-border transactions and digital currencies. This strategy allows consumers, businesses and financial institutions to choose the most efficient payment method while remaining connected to Visa's network.

Visa has been strengthening this transformation through several initiatives. It continues to expand Visa Direct, enabling faster domestic and cross-border money transfers for consumers and businesses. It is also investing in tokenization, open banking capabilities, AI-powered fraud prevention and stablecoin settlement to support new payment methods. These efforts are making its network more flexible as digital commerce and payment preferences continue to evolve.

The strategy is also translating into solid financial performance. In fiscal second-quarter 2026, net revenues rose 17% year over year, supported by a 9% increase in payment volume on a constant-dollar basis, healthy cross-border activity and higher processed transactions. Value-added services revenues climbed 27% year over year to $3.3 billion, highlighting the growing contribution of value-added services alongside its core payments business.

As businesses and consumers increasingly seek faster and more flexible ways to move money, Visa's multi-rail network could help deepen customer relationships, expand its role across global payment flows and support sustainable long-term growth. This broader approach also positions Visa to benefit as payment technologies and customer needs continue to evolve.

How Are Visa's Competitors Positioned?Some of Visa's key competitors in the payments space are Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) .

Mastercard continues to broaden its payments platform beyond traditional card transactions through real-time payments, bank transfers and blockchain-based payment rails. In the first quarter of 2026, MA's value-added services and solutions revenues increased 22% year over year, highlighting the growing contribution of services alongside its core payments business.

American Express is expanding its digital payments ecosystem through tokenization, digital wallet integrations, commercial payment solutions and AI-driven security. In the first quarter of 2026, AXP's network volumes rose 11% year over year to $486.3 billion, reflecting healthy consumer and commercial spending.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesVisa’s shares have risen 0.5% year to date against the industry’s 9.9% decline.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, well above the industry average of 18.29. V carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.2% jump from the year-ago period’s level.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Visa (V +2.87%) has historically been a market-beating stock, but it's been struggling this year, and investors are noticing several headwinds. The stock is down 2% this year, compared with a 9% increase for the S&P 500. Is this a buying opportunity?

The world's tollbooth Visa is the largest credit card network in the world, with more than $17 trillion in payments processed last year and more than 330 billion transactions. It works with 14,500 partnering financial institutions that provide credit, while Visa provides the network that moves the money, taking a small fee from each transaction. It acts as a global "tollbooth" for payments, a service-oriented business that generates high revenue and strong profits.

This is a classic "cash cow" business, with Visa in a dominant position and high barriers to entry. Its network is entrenched in global payments, and it continually adds new services to its platform as finance enters the digital age.

Image source: Getty Images.

In the 2026 fiscal second quarter (ended March 31), revenue increased 17% year over year, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were up 20%. Those are powerful results, especially in the high-inflation climate.

However, the market isn't seeing it that way. There are several headwinds, specifically in the rise of stablecoins, which challenge the Visa global network, and legislation related to interchange rates. Stablecoins bypass the Visa rails, and the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) threatens to lower fees and break up the Visa-Mastercard duopoly.

On top of that, cross-border volume has been trending down over the past few quarters since it bounced back from pandemic lows.

Is Visa stock a bargain at this price? Visa has a strong economic moat and a dominant position by far. It has an excellent, profitable business model that makes it an important part of the global economy, and it has a robust innovation engine. These are prized features, and Visa stock is typically expensive because of them.

Today's Change

(

2.87

%) $

10.07

Current Price

$

361.15

At the current price, Visa stock trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio just under 30, which is slightly below recent averages (31 over the past three years) and much lower than historical averages (35 over the past 10 years). It's a good deal, but not an incredible bargain.

Visa is an excellent, all-weather stock to own for the long term. At this price, I'd call it a great business at a fair price, which is how Warren Buffett looks for stocks. It was part of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio for years until Greg Abel recently sold it, and it could be a great stock to add to a diversified portfolio at the current price.

Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Visa debuted a solution designed to help financial institutions spot cyberthreats and prevent fraud, according to a Thursday (July 2) press release.

The Visa Threat Intelligence Platform (VTIP) employs the same cybersecurity capabilities Visa uses to protect its network, the release said.

“Fraud is widely recognized as a downstream outcome of earlier cyber incidents, often beginning with data compromise, credential theft or system exploitation well before a transaction is initiated,” the release said. “Cyberattacks that expose payment credentials can originate anywhere across the payments ecosystem, from merchants and issuers to acquirers, processors and service providers. In some cases, compromised credentials are trafficked and later misused, which can result in financial loss and operational disruption.”

Visa blocks around 90 million cyberattacks and 11 million phishing emails per month, and VTIP brings the same intelligence behind these defenses to customers in the financial sector, according to the release.

It includes capabilities such as Threat Intelligence, which provides “malware-based indicators of compromise” designed for the financial sector; Vulnerability Intelligence, which focuses on exploits and exposures relevant to each organization; Brand Intelligence, which identifies and prevents impersonation and brand abuse; Digital Identity Intelligence, which helps keep executives and employees from being personally targeted; and Financial Intelligence, which unearths compromised payment credentials from the dark web and “enriches them with VisaNet insights” to provide intelligence for fraud and risk teams, per the release.

“By unifying cyber and fraud intelligence, VTIP helps financial institutions better anticipate upstream threats, prioritize response and reduce the likelihood that cyber incidents escalate into fraud losses,” the release said.

James Mirfin, senior vice president, head of risk and security intelligence solutions at Visa, told PYMNTS in April about how fraud has evolved.

“Fraud has become a business, an economy,” he said, adding that technology has transformed criminal activity from ad hoc schemes to coordinated, professionalized operations.

In addition, advanced technology has given cybercriminals new weapons, even as it helps fraud-prevention teams do their jobs.

Artificial intelligence agents, deepfakes and voice cloning are tools that allow for larger and more convincing scams. Criminals can now automate activities that once needed human labor, allowing attacks to persist and at a wider volume.

By PYMNTS  |  June 30, 2026

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Visa introduced new ways to help small businesses manage payments via smartphone.

The capabilities are for the company’s Visa Pay, Visa Accept and Visa Direct offerings and are designed for small businesses in emerging markets, according to a Tuesday (June 30) press release provided to PYMNTS.

“Financial institutions, wallet providers and platform partners play a critical role in helping small businesses participate in the digital economy,” Rubail Birwadker, senior vice president and head of growth products and partnerships at Visa, said in the release. “With Visa Pay, Visa Accept and Visa Direct, we’re helping partners expand acceptance, speed up payouts and deliver trusted payment experiences for their business customers all through their smartphone.”

Visa research showed that 99% of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) use at least one digital finance tool, and 85% said it has helped their business. With around half of the world’s 1.3 billion unbanked adults using smartphones, “the opportunity to expand digital access is significant,” the release said.

With Visa Accept, small businesses can turn “a smartphone into a card terminal, allowing microsellers to accept card payments through a Visa debit or prepaid account, no extra hardware needed,” according to the release.

Visa Pay links wallet providers and payment apps to the Visa network, letting users pay with credentials and solutions they already use, the release said.

“Visa is also using smartphones to make it easier for small businesses to pay others through Visa Direct, its real-time money movement platform for payouts,” per the release. “With Visa Direct embedded in banking, FinTech and business platforms, an SMB owner can use their phone to send fast payouts to staff, contractors or drivers, issue customer refunds or incentives, and move funds across borders to eligible cards, bank accounts or digital wallets, often in minutes, using the same simple experience they rely on to get paid.”

The launch of the new offerings comes as retail moves from “a brick-and-mortar storefront to an anywhere, anytime experience,” PYMNTS reported last month, citing research showing that 48% of consumers worldwide make purchases via smartphone.

But while big-box giants race to lock customers into walled app ecosystems at huge expense, SMBs can win the mobile game without huge IT budgets.

“Not only are mobile websites cheaper than apps, they also allow SMBs greater opportunities to gain new customers and avoid excluding large customer segments that are unable or unwilling to download apps,” the report said.

Key Takeaways Visa Cloud Connect enables Thredd to access VisaNet for faster card issuing across the Asia Pacific.VCC runs through Thredd's Singapore cloud hub, improving onboarding, releases and reliability.V could expand network accessibility and support faster program deployment through wider VCC adoption. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is expanding its role in Asia Pacific's evolving payments landscape through Thredd's implementation of Visa Cloud Connect (VCC) across the region. The initiative enables Thredd to access VisaNet through cloud-based infrastructure, supporting faster issuing deployments for fintechs, digital banks and embedded-finance providers. The initiative reflects growing demand for modern payment infrastructure that can support rapid innovation and scale.

The implementation is centralized through Thredd's Singapore cloud hub, allowing clients to benefit from faster program onboarding, streamlined release cycles and enhanced operational reliability. By replacing traditional infrastructure with a cloud-native model, Thredd gains greater visibility and control over performance while reducing dependence on intermediary systems. This can help payment providers respond more quickly to changing market needs.

The development also underscores the broader shift toward cloud-based financial services in the Asia Pacific. As digital payments, AI-driven commerce and multi-rail payment solutions continue to gain traction, financial institutions increasingly require infrastructure that can adapt to new technologies and transaction flows. V's network remains a critical component of this ecosystem, supporting connectivity between issuers, merchants and consumers.

This initiative reinforces V's position as a key enabler of digital payments innovation. Continued adoption of VCC could enhance network accessibility, support faster program deployment and strengthen Visa's presence in one of the world's fastest-growing payments markets.

How Are Competitors Faring?Some of V’s competitors in the fintech space include Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) .

Mastercard is advancing its cloud-based payments infrastructure through investments in real-time payments, open banking and digital identity solutions. MA continues to expand its Multi-Rail strategy, enabling transactions across cards, account-to-account payments and emerging payment networks while supporting fintech innovation and cross-border commerce.

PayPal is focused on modernizing its payment ecosystem through cloud-based technology, AI-driven commerce tools and faster checkout solutions. PYPL continues to expand Venmo, strengthen merchant capabilities and integrate AI-powered features, positioning itself to benefit from rising digital-payment activity across online, mobile and omnichannel commerce.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, shares of Visa have lost 4% compared with the industry’s 22.6% fall.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, well above the industry average of 16.87. V carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.1% jump from the year-ago period.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Visa launched an AI-driven cashback program in the UAE with Mashreq and Rezolve AI.V is using rewards, data and AI to boost card usage and deepen issuer and merchant engagement.Data processing revenues rose 17% in Q1 2026, supporting Visa's value-added services strategy. Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is partnering with Mashreq and Rezolve AI to launch "Everyday Cashback" in the UAE. Powered by Rezolve's Reward platform, the digital-first Card Linked Offers (“CLO”) program delivers personalized, AI-driven rewards to credit and debit cardholders. The offering gives consumers tailored cashback incentives while helping merchants reach shoppers through targeted promotions.

While the launch is unlikely to materially affect Visa's near-term financial results, it highlights the company's broader strategy to strengthen its payments ecosystem. Beyond processing transactions, Visa is increasingly embedding value-added services into everyday payments. Programs like CLO can boost card usage, deepen customer engagement and create additional value for banks and merchants.

The initiative aligns with trends seen in Visa's first-quarter fiscal 2026 results, which showed continued growth in value-added services, commercial solutions and cross-border volumes. Expanding engagement-driven offerings in fast-growing digital payment markets like the UAE can help Visa reinforce issuer relationships and keep more payment activity on its network.

The rollout is less about immediate revenues and more about strategic execution. It demonstrates how Visa is leveraging data, AI and rewards programs to drive transaction activity and deepen ecosystem participation. The approach could also help offset rising client incentives by supporting higher-margin revenue streams. Data processing revenues rose 17% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. While the Mashreq partnership alone will not move the needle, consistent execution of similar initiatives can strengthen Visa's competitive position and support long-term earnings growth.

How Are Competitors Faring?Industry peers like Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL - Free Report)  are deploying their own AI-driven networks to capture value beyond basic payment processing.

Mastercard is aiming squarely at the machine-to-machine economy. MA recently expanded its AI capabilities via Agent Pay for Machines, a specialized infrastructure enabling AI agents and connected devices to securely authorize, orchestrate, and settle transactions autonomously.

PayPal is advancing its Agentic Commerce initiative, enabling AI agents to discover products and complete purchases on behalf of consumers. Through these efforts, PYPL is embedding its payment services into next-generation shopping experiences.

Visa’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesOver the past year, shares of Visa have lost 7.2% compared with the industry’s 23.8% decline.

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From a valuation standpoint, V trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, above the industry average of 16.89. V carries a Value Score of D.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies a 14.1% jump from the year-ago period’s level.

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Visa stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.