Visa (NYSE: V) shares surged over 5% in after-hours trading on April 28, 2026, after the payments giant reported stellar fiscal Q2 2026 results that significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company posted adjusted EPS of $3.31, beating the $3.10 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $11.2 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase and the fastest growth rate since 2022, surpassing the $10.75 billion forecast.
The strong performance was broad-based, with payments volume growing 9%, cross-border volume rising 12%, and processed transactions hitting 66.1 billion, up 9% year-over-year. GAAP net income surged 36% to $6.0 billion, or $3.14 per share, despite a $311 million litigation provision related to the interchange multidistrict litigation case.
CEO Ryan McInerney highlighted Visa's strategic progress, particularly the enhancement of its 'Visa as a Service' stack, which now includes agentic and stablecoin capabilities. The agentic capabilities involve AI-driven, autonomous tools that help banks, merchants, and fintechs automate fraud detection, routing, and authorization optimization. The stablecoin capabilities expand Visa's settlement infrastructure beyond traditional rails, enabling near-instant, blockchain-based settlement with regulated stablecoins, positioning Visa as a neutral infrastructure layer for digital money.
Visa also demonstrated strong shareholder returns, repurchasing approximately 25 million shares for $7.9 billion during the quarter and announcing a new $20 billion multi-year buyback program. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.670 per share. With $14.2 billion in cash and investments, Visa maintains ample flexibility to invest in AI, real-time payments, and blockchain-based settlement technologies.
Despite the strong quarter, challenges remain. Higher oil prices following the U.S. attack on Iran have kept interest rates elevated. In January, President Trump proposed capping credit card interest rates at 10%, roughly half the current average of 19.57%. Wells Fargo's chief economist Tom Porcelli flagged a sharp drop in daily card spending recently, attributing it to 'spending fatigue in the wake of the ongoing war in Iran.' Visa stock remains down about 12% year-to-date.
