Visa (V.US) released its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 financial results on Tuesday.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported net revenue of $12.139 billion, up 13% year over year; GAAP net income of $6.002 billion, up 18% year over year; and diluted earnings per share of $3.19, up 22% year over year.
Non-GAAP adjusted net income was $6.552 billion, up 13% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.48, up 17% year over year.
On the profitability front, Visa's fourth-quarter operating income reached $7.262 billion, up approximately 18% year over year. The operating margin came in at about 59.8%, higher than 57.3% in the same period a year earlier.
GAAP operating expenses for the quarter were $4.877 billion, up 7% year over year, mainly driven by higher general and administrative costs. Non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses rose 12% year over year, primarily reflecting increases in marketing and personnel costs.
Visa said the fourth-quarter revenue growth was mainly driven by continued increases in payment volume, cross-border payment volume, and processed transactions. Specifically, Visa's fourth-quarter payment volume grew 9% year over year on a constant-dollar basis; cross-border payment volume excluding intra-Europe transactions rose 14% year over year, with overall cross-border payment volume also up 14%. The company processed 74.2 billion transactions during the quarter, up 10% year over year.
By business segment, Visa's fourth-quarter service revenue was $5.255 billion, up 14% year over year; data processing revenue was $6.245 billion, up 16% year over year; international transaction revenue was $4.115 billion, up 8% year over year; and other revenue was $1.647 billion, up 40% year over year. Meanwhile, client incentive expenses rose 21% year over year to $5.123 billion.
It is worth noting that Visa recognized approximately $469 million in litigation provisions related to card interchange fees in the fourth quarter and donated investment assets valued at $282 million to the Visa Foundation. These items had a certain impact on the quarter's GAAP profit.
On a full-year basis, Visa achieved net revenue of $45.903 billion in fiscal 2026, up 15% year over year and up 14% on a constant-dollar basis, marking a record high. Full-year GAAP net income was $23.504 billion, up 17% year over year; diluted earnings per share were $12.32, up 21% year over year. Non-GAAP adjusted net income was $25.314 billion, up 12% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share of $13.27, up 16% year over year.
In terms of business metrics, Visa's full-year payment volume grew 9% on a constant-dollar basis, cross-border payment volume excluding intra-Europe transactions rose 12%, and overall cross-border payment volume increased 13%. The company processed 281.3 billion transactions for the year, up 9% year over year.
Visa Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney said that fiscal 2026 was a milestone year for the company. Full-year revenue reached a record of approximately $46 billion, up 15% year over year. Excluding the effects of the post-COVID recovery and acquisitions, this also represented Visa's strongest annual revenue growth in more than fifteen years.
On shareholder returns, Visa returned $5.2 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends in the fourth quarter, bringing the full-year total to $25.6 billion. Of that, the company spent $4 billion in the fourth quarter to repurchase approximately 11 million Class A common shares, with full-year share buybacks reaching $20.5 billion. As of the end of September, Visa had $24.4 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
In addition, Visa's board of directors declared a 16% increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.78 per share, payable on December 1 to shareholders of record as of November 10.
On the mergers and acquisitions front, Visa previously announced it would acquire fraud risk intelligence company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
As of September 30, 2026, Visa held approximately $14.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investment securities.
Looking ahead, McInerney said that as technology continues to transform the way commercial transactions are conducted, Visa will continue to leverage its global payment network, technology, and product advantages to capture opportunities in the payments industry, and views trust as an important factor driving the company's growth in 2027 and beyond.
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