How Is Visa's Stock Performance Compared to Other Financial Stocks?

• StockStory Top Pick V -0.22%
• XLF +0.78%

With a market cap of $599.9 billion, Visa Inc. (V) is a global payments technology company that facilitates digital transactions across more than 200 countries and territories through its secure processing network, VisaNet. The company offers a broad portfolio of products and services, including credit, debit, prepaid solutions, digital payment innovations, risk management, and data analytics.

Companies worth more than $200 billion are generally labeled as “mega-cap” stocks and Visa fits this criterion perfectly. Serving financial institutions, merchants, governments, and consumers, Visa also strengthens its brand through partnerships and sponsorships with organizations such as the Olympic Games, FIFA, and the NFL.

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The San Francisco, California-based company has dipped 12.3% from its 52-week high of $375.51. Shares of Visa have decreased 5.9% over the past three months, lagging behind the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLF) 3.1% drop over the same time frame.

In the longer term, Visa stock is up 4.2% on a YTD basis, underperforming XLF’s 7.4% gain. However, shares of the global payments processor have risen 6.3% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing XLF’s 2.3% return over the same time frame.

V stock has been trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since late October.

Despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.98 and revenue of $10.72 billion on Oct. 28, shares of V fell 1.6% the next day as adjusted operating expenses jumped 13% year-over-year to $3.6 billion. The market also reacted negatively to weakening cash generation, with free cash flow down 8% to $5.8 billion and operating cash flow declining 6.4%. Additionally, Visa issued cautious fiscal 2026 guidance, calling for only low double-digit EPS growth.

In comparison, rival Mastercard Incorporated (MA) has lagged behind Visa stock. Shares of Mastercard have gained 2.1% on a YTD basis and 3.3% over the past 52 weeks.

As Visa stock has outperformed over the past year, analysts remain bullish about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from 36 analysts' coverage, and the mean price target of $402.57 is a premium of 22.3% to current levels.

On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com