Visa 1Q Sales Climb on Strong Holiday Shopping — Update

By Katherine Hamilton

Visa logged higher revenue and profit in the first quarter, citing strong consumer spending through the holidays.

The payments company on Thursday posted a profit of $5.85 billion, or $3.03 a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $5.12 billion, or $2.58 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $3.17, ahead of the $3.14 anticipated by analysts, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 15% to $10.90 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast revenue of $10.69 billion.

First-quarter performance was driven by resilient consumer spending and a strong holiday season, Visa Chief Executive Ryan McInerney said.

Payments volume increased 8%, cross-border volumes were up 12% and processed transactions rose 9%.

Visa said it expects revenue to increase by a low-double-digit percentage in the second quarter and the full fiscal year. It anticipates earnings per share growth will be at the high-end of the low-double-digit range for the quarter, with low-double-digit annual growth.

Analysts polled by FactSet are forecasting increases of around 11% to 12% for both quarterly and annual revenue, and earnings.

Visa said it repurchased 11 million shares of common stock at an average cost of $342.13 a share, totaling $3.8 billion, during the quarter.

The San Francisco company also deposited $500 million into its litigation escrow account, which was established to insulate the company from financial liability for certain litigation cases.

January has been a tough month for shares of both Visa and Mastercard after President Trump posted on social media his endorsement of the Credit Card Competition Act. The bill is aimed at reducing the credit-card swipe fees for retailers, which contribute significantly to Mastercard and Visa's earnings.

Earlier on Thursday, Mastercard reported an 18% jump in revenue and said consumer and business spending is healthy.

Mastercard also said it would cut 4% of its roughly 35,000 employees following a strategic review of its business.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2026 16:54 ET (21:54 GMT)