Visa tops estimates as cross-border spending boosts results; seen as a core LT holding

investing.com:

Investing.com — Visa (NYSE:V) beat expectations on adjusted profit and revenue as cross-border payment volume remained strong.

Shares are trading 0.6% lower in premarket Wednesday.

Adjusted fiscal third-quarter earnings per share of $2.16 on revenue of $8.1 billion compared with expectations for earnings of $2.11 a share on revenue of $8.06B. Revenue was up 12% from the same time last year.

Visa said consumer spending was resilient, driving growth in payments volume and processed transactions. Summer tourism boosted cross-border volume.

Payments volume rose 9%, and cross border volume not including inside Europe rose 22%.

CEO Ryan McInerney said: “We are focused on accelerating our growth across consumer payments, new flows and value added services by investing in our brand, innovation, capabilities, people and clients so that we remain at the center of money movement for years to come.”

BMO analysts commented:

«We believe V continued to strengthen its competitive position this quarter, growing and scaling its core consumer payments business (adding new acceptance locations, credentials, payment methods etc), while also demonstrating strong traction in new flows (e.g., Visa Direct and Commercial volumes) and value-added services (VAS), which are key to driving durable double-digit revenue growth at V. We recommend V (along with MA) as a core long-term holding for U.S. FIG portfolios.»

Morgan Stanley analysts hiked the price target by $2 to $292 per share.

«Ongoing strength in Int’l travel, improving cross-border eCommerce growth, and generally stable US domestic spend combine to deliver slight upside. We remain OW as we see the stock continuing to compound with EPS growth (CY24e 14.5% growth),» the analysts said.

(Additi