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The numbers did the heavy lifting
Visa came out swinging in Q1, beating Wall Street on both earnings and revenue. EPS landed at $3.31 versus the $3.10 analysts were looking for, while revenue hit $11.23 billion, also ahead of estimates. Net revenue grew 17% year over year — its fastest pace since 2022 — which is a fancy way of saying the payments engine is still humming.
Management didn’t stop at the beat
The bigger investor carrot was guidance. Visa lifted its full-year outlook and now expects net revenue to grow in the low-double-digit to low-teens range, with EPS rising in the low teens. That’s the kind of move that can make a stock open with a grin before the market even has its coffee.
Not just swipe swipes and tap-to-pay
Visa also used the moment to flex its newer growth ideas. It’s expanding its global Agentic Ready program into Asia Pacific and Latin America, trying to get the payments stack ready for AI agents that buy things on your behalf. Yes, apparently even the bots need a checkout lane.
On top of that, Visa said its stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion run rate, up 50% quarter over quarter, and added support for five more blockchains. Translation: the company is still trying to be the toll booth for whatever version of money comes next.
Why investors care
For a mature mega-cap like Visa, the stock usually needs either a solid earnings beat or a guidance raise to get moving. Visa gave investors both, plus a couple of headline-friendly growth stories that suggest the company isn’t just living off card volume like it’s 2014.
Big picture: Visa looks like it’s doing what the best legacy giants do — using boring, reliable cash flow to fund a not-so-boring future.