SAN FRANCISCO — Visa reported $10.9 billion in net income for its fiscal first quarter of 2026, topping Wall Street expectations of $10.69 billion and marking a 15% jump from $9.5 billion a year earlier.
The results, covering the three months ended Dec. 31, reflected continued momentum across core payments activity, including higher volumes, more cross-border spending and a larger number of transactions processed on its network, GlobalData reported.
Payments volume rose 8% year over year on a constant-dollar basis, while total cross-border volume climbed 12%, helped by strong international travel and e-commerce activity. Visa processed 69.4 billion transactions in the quarter, a 9% increase from the prior year, as usage of its cards and digital services continued to expand globally.
On a GAAP basis, Visa earned $5.9 billion, or $3.03 per share, up 14% and 17%, respectively, from a year earlier. The quarter included several one-time items: a $707 million litigation provision tied to the interchange multidistrict litigation case, a $333 million deferred tax benefit from changes to U.S. taxation of certain foreign earnings, plus smaller charges related to equity investments and acquisition-related amortization, GlobalData reported.
CEO Ryan McInerney credited resilient consumer spending, a strong holiday season and growth in value-added services, commercial payments and money-movement solutions for the performance. He added that Visa’s ongoing investments in its “Visa as a Service” platform are designed to deepen its role as a payments infrastructure provider — a contrast to last quarter, when the company posted a 4% decline in net income to $5.1 billion.