Highlights

  • Fiscal third quarter 2026 net revenue rose 14% to $11.63 billion, and GAAP diluted EPS grew 10% to $2.97.
  • Operating expenses rose 19% to $4.76 billion, including a $253 million litigation provision versus $615 million a year earlier.
  • Visa repurchased 50 million shares for $16.5 billion in nine months, and its board authorized a $20.0 billion program.
  • Visa bought Prisma and Newpay in Argentina for $1.5 billion in cash and issued $3.0 billion of senior notes.

Visa (NYSE:V) shares were trading near their 52-week high at USD 409.06 on October 21, 2026, up 0.61%. The payments network operator acquired two Argentine payments businesses and issued senior notes in February, authorized a larger buyback in April, and filed its fiscal third quarter report on July 29.

Based in San Francisco, California, Visa is a Delaware corporation that calls itself a global payments technology company. It runs VisaNet, a transaction processing network that handles authorization, clearing and settlement among consumers, issuing and acquiring financial institutions and sellers in more than 200 countries and territories. Visa says it is not a financial institution and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for account holders. Its fiscal year ends September 30, and it has one reportable segment, Payment Services.

Revenue Up 14% as Costs Climb

Net revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2026 was $11.63 billion, compared with $10.17 billion a year earlier. The filing attributes growth mainly to cross-border volume, payments volume and processed transactions, partly offset by higher client incentives, with exchange rates adding about one percentage point. Data processing revenue rose 17% to $6.04 billion, service revenue 14% to $4.92 billion, international transaction revenue 6% to $3.85 billion and other revenue 45% to $1.50 billion. Client incentives, which reduce net revenue, rose 18% to $4.68 billion.

Operating expenses grew 19% to $4.76 billion, led by personnel costs of $2.46 billion and marketing of $649 million. GAAP net income rose 7% to $5.63 billion, or $2.97 per diluted share, against $5.27 billion, or $2.69. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $6.30 billion and diluted earnings per share $3.32, up 11%. For nine months, net revenue was $33.76 billion, up 15%, and GAAP diluted EPS was $9.14 versus $7.59. Operating cash flow was $16.34 billion against $16.82 billion, which the company linked to higher litigation and incentive payments.

Litigation, Acquisition and Capital Returns

Litigation remains a material item. In the nine months, Visa recorded $1.1 billion of added accruals for the interchange multidistrict litigation and deposited $875 million into its U.S. litigation escrow account, which held $888 million at June 30. A revised settlement of injunctive relief claims received preliminary court approval on June 9, and a motion for final approval was filed July 15. Separate merchant actions, including a new class complaint filed April 21 and further claims in the UK High Court, are pending. A U.S. securities class action was dismissed without leave to amend on June 29.

In February, Visa paid $1.5 billion in cash for Prisma and Newpay in Argentina. It repurchased 50 million Class A shares for $16.5 billion in the nine months, with $28.4 billion of authorization remaining after the board approved a $20.0 billion program in April. Dividends paid were $3.9 billion, and a $0.67 quarterly dividend per Class A share was declared on July 28. In May, Visa accepted tendered Class B-1 and B-2 shares in an exchange offer, issuing Class B-3 and Class C shares.

Cash and cash equivalents were $12.36 billion at June 30, versus $17.16 billion at September 30, 2025. Visa repaid $5.6 billion of notes at maturity and had $1.5 billion of commercial paper outstanding, which fell to $500 million by July 28.

Outlook and Items to Watch

The quarterly report contains no numeric financial guidance. It says Visa expects its sources of liquidity to cover needs for more than the next 12 months and that it has sufficient liquidity for a $1.5 billion note payment due in April 2027. In July, it raised its commercial paper program limit to $7.0 billion from $3.0 billion. The company expects to keep paying quarterly cash dividends, subject to board approval. The company notes that additional accruals for the interchange litigation could be higher or lower than the escrow deposits made.