Visa Inc. reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.32, surpassing the consensus estimate of $3.23 by 2.79%. The San Jose-based payments processor also reported quarterly sales of $11.633 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $11.388 billion by 2.15%. These results reflect a robust performance driven by resilient consumer and business spending, marking an 11.41% increase in EPS from $2.98 in the same period last year and a 14.36% rise in sales from $10.172 billion.

CEO Ryan McInerney attributed the performance to sustained spending strength across Visa’s global network. The company’s strategy continues to deliver results in consumer payments, commercial solutions, and money movement services. Transaction activity rose 10% year-over-year, while total cross-border volume increased by 13%. Excluding intra-Europe transactions, cross-border volume grew by 12%, highlighting international travel and trade recovery as key growth engines despite broader economic uncertainties.

Operational Highlights

The financial results were underpinned by significant gains in transaction activity. The following table details the key operational metrics for the quarter:

Non-GAAP earnings per share rose 11%, while GAAP earnings per share increased by 10% compared to the prior year period. These figures reflect Visa’s ability to maintain margin expansion alongside volume growth, reinforcing its position as a beneficiary of the ongoing shift toward digital payments.

Guidance and Analyst Outlook

Management raised their full-year revenue growth outlook, while maintaining its adjusted operating expenses and earnings guidance. Visa provided fresh guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter, including low double-digit to low-teens net revenue growth, high end of low double-digit growth in adjusted operating expenses, and mid-teens adjusted earnings growth.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Ramsey El-Assal reaffirmed an Overweight rating and price target of $410, noting that Visa reported a "healthy" revenue beat with Data Processing and other revenues topping Street expectations. El-Assal highlighted that adjusted EBIT reached $7.755 billion, surpassing the Street’s $7.597 billion estimate. He attributed recent softer trends to transitory factors, including the timing of Amazon.com Prime Day, a less-favorable calendar and mix versus June, and lower fuel prices, rather than a deterioration in underlying spending trends.

What the Numbers Show

The beat on both earnings and revenue indicates that Visa’s pricing power and network fees are holding firm even as transaction volumes accelerate. The divergence between the 10% growth in domestic-like metrics (payments volume) and the 12–13% surge in cross-border flows suggests that international transactions are contributing disproportionately to top-line momentum. This aligns with analyst views from earlier in the quarter, where firms like Baird and Piper Sandler raised price targets citing strong execution in digital infrastructure and data analytics partnerships.

Despite the positive earnings report, Visa shares declined 2.34% to $358 in extended trading on Tuesday. However, shares were up 1.54% at $372.25 on Wednesday. This volatility may reflect profit-taking after recent rallies or cautious sentiment regarding future valuation multiples. El-Assal noted that Visa’s stock has risen around 19% over the past three months, outperforming the 4% rise in S&P 500, making incremental upside even more difficult.

Visa Inc. on Thursday unveiled a new stablecoin infrastructure platform aimed at helping banks and fintech companies integrate dollar-backed cryptocurrencies into existing payment and treasury operations. The new Visa Stablecoin Platform enables financial institutions to manage stablecoins within Visa’s existing payment and treasury infrastructure rather than building separate blockchain systems. The company, which processes roughly $15 trillion in annual payment volume, already settles several billion dollars using stablecoins. The platform is designed to make stablecoin adoption easier for its network of approximately 15,000 financial institutions and over 200 million merchants.

Visa Stablecoin Platform

The platform integrates directly with Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin recently introduced by Open Standard, a consortium of financial institutions that includes Visa as a partner. It provides onchain wallet infrastructure through a Wallet-as-a-Service offering and connectivity for minting and burning Open USD. This allows institutions to bring fiat onchain and manage flows within a trusted environment.

"It’s less about accessing stablecoins and more about how this interoperates with their treasury settlement, money movement workflows and existing banking infrastructure," Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s global head of growth, told Fortune.

Key Features and Workflow

The platform offers several capabilities designed to help institutions move from exploration to implementation. Institutions can onboard into a Visa-managed wallet stack or connect existing wallets to manage stablecoin activity. Clients can link bank accounts and configure approvals, users, and policies to govern movements. The platform supports minting, redeeming, holding, and transferring stablecoins, starting with Open USD, as part of treasury and liquidity workflows.

Industry Context

The payments giant became the first major payment network to settle transactions using USDC in 2020 and expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities in late 2025. Visa is not alone in embracing stablecoins. Mastercard Inc. recently expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities by allowing banks and payment providers to settle card transactions using six regulated dollar-backed stablecoins. Meanwhile, American Express Co. has also joined Open Standard alongside Visa and Mastercard, signaling growing support among traditional payment networks for stablecoin-based financial infrastructure.