Visa (NYSE: V) Posts 14% Revenue Growth in Fiscal Q3 2026, Topping EPS Estimates

Visa (NYSE: V) reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 results on July 28, with net revenue of $11.6 billion, a 14% year-over-year increase, and adjusted EPS of $3.32 that topped the $3.29 analyst consensus by roughly 0.9%. GAAP EPS came in at $2.97, a 10% increase over the $2.70 reported in the prior-year quarter.

Fiscal Q3 2026 Results

• Net revenue: $11.6 billion, up 14% year-over-year (13% on a constant-dollar basis), compared to $10.175 billion in the prior-year period.
• Adjusted EPS: $3.32, up 11% from $2.99 in the prior-year quarter, beating the $3.29 consensus estimate.
• GAAP net income: $5.6 billion, up 7% year-over-year; adjusted net income was $6.3 billion, up 8%.
• Processed transactions: 71.7 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2026, a 10% increase over the prior year.
• Cross-border volume (excluding intra-Europe) grew 12% on a constant-dollar basis; total cross-border volume rose 13%.
• Payments volume for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 increased 10% on a constant-dollar basis year-over-year.

What Drove the Results

Adjusted EPS of $3.32 beat the $3.29 consensus by $0.03. On the revenue side, data processing revenue led category growth at $6.0 billion, up 17% year-over-year, while other revenue reached $1.5 billion, up 45%. Service revenue grew 14% to $4.9 billion and international transaction revenue rose 6% to $3.9 billion. Client incentives, which offset gross revenue, increased 18% to $4.7 billion.

GAAP operating expenses rose 19% year-over-year to $4.8 billion, driven by higher personnel costs and special items: $563 million in severance charges, a $237 million litigation provision related to the interchange multidistrict litigation case, and an $18 million deferred tax benefit tied to a change in U.S. taxation of certain foreign earnings. Non-GAAP operating expenses rose 17%, reflecting increases in marketing and personnel spending. The GAAP-to-adjusted divergence in net income ($5.6 billion vs. $6.3 billion) is primarily attributable to these severance and litigation charges.

The company separately disclosed that it repurchased approximately 14.5 million shares of class A common stock at an average cost of $330.71 per share, totaling $4.9 billion for the quarter, with $28.4 billion of remaining authorized repurchase capacity as of June 30, 2026. Combined share repurchases and dividends totaled $6.2 billion in the quarter. The board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.670 per share, payable September 1, 2026, to holders of record as of August 11, 2026.

CEO Ryan McInerney noted that artificial intelligence is shaping how work is structured at the company, and Visa announced layoffs ahead of the earnings release, with McInerney stating AI is helping to reshape internal workflows.

Wall Street View

Wall Street's reception heading into the print was broadly positive, with analyst consensus leaning strongly toward Buy-side ratings. The adjusted EPS beat and 14% revenue growth aligned with expectations for resilient consumer and business spending volumes globally. No specific new price targets were available in the source data at the time of writing.

Investor Takeaway

Visa's Q3 results confirm that core payment volumes remain healthy, with double-digit growth across payments volume, cross-border volume, and processed transactions simultaneously. The 45% year-over-year jump in other revenue and the accelerating data processing line suggest Visa's value-added services segment is becoming a more meaningful share of the revenue mix. Shares gained 1.12% on Tuesday, July 28, while the S&P 500 added 0.24%, with the company's $6.2 billion in capital returns for the quarter providing an additional consideration for income-focused investors.