Visa Q4 Revenue Rises 13%; FY2027 Growth Seen in Low Double Digits

Visa (V) reported double-digit revenue and earnings growth for its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 30, 2026, supported by higher payments volume, cross-border activity and processed transactions. The company expects low-double-digit net revenue growth for both the first quarter and full fiscal year 2027 on a non-GAAP adjusted constant-dollar basis.

Net revenue rose 13% year over year to $12.1 billion. GAAP net income increased 18% to $6.0 billion, while diluted Class A earnings per share climbed 22% to $3.19. On a non-GAAP basis, net income advanced 13% to $6.6 billion and diluted EPS increased 17% to $3.48.

Excluding acquisition and currency effects, non-GAAP adjusted constant-dollar EPS grew 16%. Foreign exchange had an approximately neutral effect on quarterly net revenue and EPS, while acquisitions contributed about one percentage point to reported revenue growth and half a point to EPS growth.

Payment activity remains strong

Payments volume increased 9% in constant dollars from a year earlier. Total cross-border volume grew 14%, including on a basis that excludes transactions within Europe, while the number of transactions processed by Visa rose 10%.

Visa processed 93.1 billion transactions during the quarter, compared with 89.2 billion in the corresponding prior-year period. Credit transactions totaled 33.3 billion and debit transactions reached 59.8 billion. Total Visa cards stood at 5.2 billion in the fiscal third quarter, up 6% year over year, including 1.6 billion credit cards and 3.6 billion debit cards.

Service revenue increased 14% to $5.26 billion, and data-processing revenue rose 16% to $6.25 billion. International transaction revenue grew 8% to $4.12 billion, while other revenue increased 40% to $1.65 billion. Client incentives, which reduce gross revenue, rose 21% to $5.12 billion.

Visa noted that service revenue is recognized primarily based on payments volume in the preceding quarter, meaning current-quarter volume trends do not fully align with service revenue for the same period.

Expenses rise as litigation provision falls

GAAP operating expenses increased 7% to $4.88 billion. Personnel costs rose 7% to $1.87 billion, while marketing expense increased 23% to $711 million. Network and processing costs climbed 22% to $293 million, and professional fees rose 26% to $322 million.

General and administrative expense increased 52% to $829 million, including a $282 million charitable contribution. The litigation provision declined 47% to $474 million. Excluding litigation provisions, charitable contributions, acquired-intangible amortization and acquisition-related costs, non-GAAP operating expenses were $4.05 billion, up 12%.

The GAAP effective income tax rate was 18.5%, compared with a non-GAAP rate of 18.4%.

Visa generated $7.39 billion of operating cash flow during the quarter and spent $493 million on capital expenditures, resulting in non-GAAP free cash flow of $6.89 billion. Full-year free cash flow totaled $22.06 billion. Cash, cash equivalents and investment securities were $14.2 billion at September 30.

The company returned $5.2 billion to shareholders during the quarter through $3.98 billion of share repurchases and $1.26 billion of dividends. Its board increased the quarterly cash dividend by 16% to $0.780 per share.

Fiscal 2027 outlook

For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Visa expects low-double-digit growth in both net revenue and operating expenses on a non-GAAP adjusted constant-dollar basis. Diluted EPS is projected to grow at the low end of the mid-teens range on the same basis.

For the full fiscal year, management also expects low-double-digit growth in net revenue and operating expenses, with adjusted constant-dollar EPS growth ranging from the low double digits to the low teens.

On a GAAP nominal-dollar basis, Visa projects first-quarter net revenue growth at the high end of the low-double-digit range, a high-single-digit decline in operating expenses and EPS growth in the high teens. For the full year, the company expects low-double-digit revenue growth, a mid-single-digit decline in operating expenses and EPS growth in the low 20% range. The differences reflect non-GAAP adjustments as well as estimated currency and acquisition effects.

Visa also said its proposed $2.4 billion cash acquisition of behavioral fraud-intelligence provider BioCatch remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Visa’s fiscal second quarter of 2027.

The company cautioned that its outlook is subject to regulatory scrutiny of the payments industry, litigation and investigations, competition, economic and political conditions, cybersecurity and network risks, data and artificial-intelligence rules, and uncertainty over whether acquisitions deliver their anticipated benefits.