Visa Company Description

Visa Inc. (V) is the world’s largest card services companies, with operations in all continents and a network that connects banks, merchants, and payment providers through a single transaction network. The company has four major business segments namely: Service Revenues, Data Processing Revenues, International Transaction Revenues, and Other Revenues that includes the independently run subsidiary, Visa Europe Services Inc. Currently, Visa’s largest geographic segment is the US, with a 55% share of revenues. Although its international segments are growing faster on the back of consumer spending growth in emerging markets, Visa was recently added as a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Index (Dow 30). Read More: V

Visa Earnings Fare Well, Raises Buyback

Visa Inc.’s (V) fiscal fourth-quarter 2013 (ended Sep 30, 2013) operating earnings of $1.85 per Class A common share were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but outpaced the prior-year quarter figure of $1.54 per share. Results in the reported quarter included a restructuring reserve of about 4 cents per share.

Net income increased 15.2% to $1.19 billion from $1.04 billion in the year-ago quarter. Including reversal of tax reserves of $627 million or 93 cents per share, reported net income in the year-ago quarter was $1.66 billion or $2.47 per share.

Alongside, total operating revenues for the reported quarter were $2.97 billion, up 8.9% year over year but lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.02 billion. Growth was driven by higher card spending and strong performance across all segments.

Service revenues increased 9.6% year over year to $1.39 billion and are recognized based on payments volume in the prior quarter. All other revenue categories are recognized based on the current quarter activity. Data processing revenues grew 11.7% from the prior-year period to $1.19 billion. Read more.

Visa Inc. PJSC "Ukrsotsbank", UniCredit Bank™, revealed names of winners of "With Visa

Visa Inc. (V), with a current value of $152.58B, started the session at $195.38. During today’s session, V traded between $195.00 to $196.12 with a trailing 52-week range being $138.53 to $205.25. 

V shares are currently priced at 22.98x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 22.52x earnings multiple. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.60 per share annually in dividends, yielding 0.80%.

In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 30 sell-side analysts are looking at $2.16 per share, which would be $0.23 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $8.87 is a $1.28 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. Read more.

Visa (V) Leads The Day Higher

The Dow component that led the way higher today was Visa (NYSE:V), which sported a 95-cent gain (+0.5%) bringing the stock to $197.37. Volume for Visa ended the day at 2.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 3.3 million shares.

Visa has a market cap of $102.49 billion and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are up 31.4% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 0.8%.

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. Read more.

Visa, MasterCard and the Power of Plastic

American Express reported 2013 operating earnings per share of $1.25, comfortably surpassing both the consensus estimate of $1.22 and the year-ago quarter's $1.09 a share. Global card spending bolstered the company's net income from operations by 9% year over year to $1.37 billion, from $1.25 billion in the third quarter of last year. Card spending rose by 7% year over year to $236.2 billion a result of international cards-in-force gains of 7% and cards-in-use gains of 8% in the United States.

American Express registered 6% growth on the top line as due to strong growth in card spending, gains in net interest income and the loan portfolio portfolio. Read more.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) | PJSC "Ukrsotsbank", UniCredit Bank™

Visa Inc. (V), with a current value of $152.58B, started the session at $195.38. During today’s session, V traded between $195.00 to $196.12 with a trailing 52-week range being $138.53 to $205.25. V shares are currently priced at 22.98x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 22.52x earnings multiple.

In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 30 sell-side analysts are looking at $2.16 per share, which would be $0.23 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $8.87 is a $1.28 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results.

The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $3.13 Billion. If realized, that would be a 9.82% increase over the year-ago quarter.
In terms of ratings, Argus downgraded V from Buy to Hold (Mar 1, 2013). Previously, UBS upgraded V from Sell to Neutral. Read more.

Visa: Not Where You Want To Be

It's been a while since I've looked at some of the credit card names, but there's been a few interesting events lately that I feel I must discuss. A number of my readers have asked for an update on this space, and so today, I will do that. My primary focus will be on Visa (V), with a comparison to the growth-comparable MasterCard (MA). In the end, my goal is to explain why I wouldn't jump into Visa just yet, and why a short position could actually work right now.

Last week, Visa announced its fiscal fourth quarter results. This report was for the calendar Q3 period, but Visa's fiscal year ends at the end of September. Overall, the results were not that great in my opinion. The company announced a revenue number of $3.02 billion, which missed analyst expectations. If you look at Visa's recent earnings history, you will see that this is the first miss in two years. Read more.

Visa Inc (V) Reports In-Line EPS Of $1.85

Visa Inc (NYSE:V) released its earnings numbers for the three months through September 2013 this afternoon after the market closed on Wall Street. The company showed earnings per share of $1.85 for the quarter on revenue totaling $3 billion. On today’s market shares in Visa trended down and finished the day’s trading at $204.17.

 

In the run up to the release of this afternoon’s earnings report, analysts following the credit card company were looking for earnings per share of $1.85 from the company by consensus. Revenue for the period were expected to come in at $3 billion. Read more.

Visa Could See European Business Slide As Region Recovers

Visa Could See European Business Slide As Region Recovers and 2 Other Dow Movers to Watch

A 3 percent appreciation by the euro in 2013 and the nascent economic recovery in Europe could propel MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) to further outpace its larger competitor, Visa. Analyst Jason Kupferberg at Jefferies Group LLC believes that MasterCard, which stock has outstripped Visa’s this year, could gain another 15 percent in two years. V.

Visa Investors Surprised by Earnings Miss

Visa Inc. (V), the world’s largest payment processing company by revenues, reported its fourth quarter (4Q) earnings for fiscal year (FY) 2013 on October 30. The results were modest and failed to capture the interest of investors, who were expecting a stellar performance, given that card service companies have performed quite well in recent quarters. The share price of Visa fell 2% following its earnings release.

For the latest quarter, Visa reported a net income of $1.2 billion, up 15% from the same quarter last year. Diluted EPS (earnings per share) were $1.85, a 20% better result than $1.54 in 4QFY12. Net income for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013 increased 18% to $5 billion, which translated to per share earnings of $7.59. EPS was 23% higher than it was in FY12 but missed analyst estimates by a minute 0.07%. V.

Mobile Payments: Plastic is so Passé

Mobile payments refer to payment services that are made through mobile devices. This may become the next disruptive technology, based on the growth in the number of mobile wallet apps globally and the adoption of mobile payment methods by large businesses like Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) which has been an early adopter of this technology.

 

The mobile payments arena is experiencing massive growth, but the industry is still quite fragmented, with numerous players competing for a dominant position. Plus, there are impending security and privacy concerns over the mobile payment technologies used.

The industry is likely to see consolidation as large payment service and card companies buy out smaller online networks in order to increase market share and revenues. Internet retailers like eBay and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) are also expected to acquire companies and new technologies to expand. read more Mobile Payments.

Visa: License to Buy

Visa Inc. (V) is the world’s largest global payments company, with a proprietary network that interlinks banks, retail merchants and payment houses around the world. It is part of a unique league of financial services companies that do not issue cards or extend credit to customers, but instead offer payments products and services in partnership with banks and merchants to facilitate the transfer of money.

The company, headquartered in Foster City, California, was recently added as a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Index (Dow 30), along with the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) and Nike, Inc. (NKE). With Visa’s purchase volumes making up a substantial chunk of total US retail sales, the company’s financial performance is a primary indicator of the level of consumer spending in the American economy. read more Visa.

American Express – Experience Some Express Growth

American Express Company (AXP), also known as AmEx, has traditionally been associated with wealth and big spenders. While it is classified as a diversified financial services company, it is considered part of the consumer finance sub-industry as its principal businesses involve charge and credit card payment products, and travel-related services to consumers and businesses worldwide.

The company has certain core advantages and growth drivers that differentiate it from other card companies. Whereas other card companies either issue cards or process transactions, American Express issues its own proprietary cards and processes online and merchant transactions on its own network.

We think AmEx is a solid play with potential to grow, based on the following data on its major sources of income. read more American Express Company.

Africa: The Next Great Growth Story for Visa and MasterCard?

Africa's role in the global economy is visibly changing. It is no longer the world's tip jar, but rather a formidable growth pillar.

Kenyan telecom company Safaricom, for instance, is the world leader in mobile payments. More than 17 million of Kenya's 40 million citizens use Safaricom's mobile payment service, M-PESA. In addition, close to 25% of Kenya's Gross National Product flows through the service.

Interestingly, the success of mobile money is not an exclusive Kenyan affair. Africa as a whole is embracing mobile money as a way to enhance convenience and security as well to step up efforts in financial inclusion for the unbanked. read more.

Card Services Industry – Plastic Money Plays

The US card services industry comprises companies that process credit and debit card transactions on behalf of merchants and card issuing companies (such as banks). These companies also facilitate global fund transfers through their payment networks and merchants and financial insitutions pay them a fee for these services.

The industry is dominated by four major companies that process payments and offer value-added services to their clients. read more.

Debit Cards Set to Take Over Credit Cards

The first modern credit and charge cards were introduced in the 1950s, and that allowed consumers a cashless luxury to buy now and pay later. Since then, credit cards have also been a source of debate because of rumors and lawsuits centered on unethical and predatory practices by financial institutions. While the shift from cash based transactions to non-cash methods of payment has been a highly visible trend, there are more intricate trends in the global payments industry that are growing at a high rate.

Credit cards are being increasingly viewed with skepticism, mainly due to their high annual percentage rates (APRs) and often vague contract terms, many of which the average consumer fails to understand. It’s no wonder then that the average credit card debt for US households stands at $7,100 as of August 2013, down 1.08% from last year. It is also not surprising that after the 2008 financial crisis, as a result of tightening credit policies, the average number of credit cards held by Americans declined to 1.96, as of July 2013. The average number of cards held by Americans stood at 3.7 in 2009. Read more.

‘White Widow’ at Large as Governments Bungle Cooperation

Kenyan investigators knew two years ago that they wanted to question Samantha Lewthwaite, the 29-year-old widow of one of the suicide bombers who struck the London transit system in 2005.

They ran into her for the first time that December, while probing a foiled attack on tourist sites in Mombasa, when she convinced them she was a tourist. Within days, investigators realized their mistake, a prosecutor said.

hree raids on houses tied to al-Qaeda and Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants turned up bomb-making materials, cash from Somali pirates, AK-47’s and Lewthwaite’s personal diary, according to court proceedings in the trial of a U.K. citizen in Kenya, Jermaine Grant, and Kenyan prosecutors.

Only yesterday, a week after al-Shabaab militants attacked the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67 civilians and security personnel, did Kenya request Interpol to issue a Red Notice for Lewthwaite, asking police around the world to search for her and arrest her. Read more.

USHCC Names Visa Corporation of the Year at 2013 National Convention

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) announced Visa Inc. as Corporation of the Year during its 2013 National Convention in Chicago, IL. Visa accepted this prestigious award during the Million Dollar Club Breakfast at the iconic Chicago Hilton.

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. Read more.

Visa Beats Estimates as Card Spending Grows

Visa Inc.'s shares rose late Wednesday, after the payments network reported fiscal third-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates as spending on its credit and debit cards grew 13%.

 

Excluding the provision, Visa said its profit rose 16% from a year earlier. Operating revenue increased 17% to $3 billion.  Read More.