Visa reported strong numbers for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with GAAP net income rising 14% year over year to $5.9 billion, or $3.03 per share.
Visa’s non-GAAP net income hit $6.1 billion, translating to $3.17 per share, up by 12% and 15%, respectively.
The revenue reached $10.9 billion, a 15% increase from the same time last year. On a constant-dollar basis, the increase was 13%.
The company’s growth came from higher payment volume, more cross-border activity, and an increase in processed transactions. On top of that, Visa returned $5.1 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.
Visa sees jump in volume across all business lines
Ryan, the CEO of Visa, said the growth was powered by holiday spending and consumer demand.
“GAAP EPS was up 17%, non-GAAP EPS up 15%, and revenue up 15%, driven by strong consumer activity and momentum in value-added services and money movement,” Ryan said.
The company’s Visa as a Service payments volume rose 8% for the three months ended December 31, 2025. Volume from the prior quarter, used to calculate this quarter’s service revenue, increased 9%.
Cross-border volume, excluding intra-Europe, grew 11%, while total cross-border volume jumped 12%. The company handled 69.4 billion transactions, which is a 9% increase over last year.
Breaking the revenue down: Service revenue came in at $4.8 billion, up 13%. Data processing revenue was $5.5 billion, up 17%. International transaction revenue totaled $3.7 billion, increasing 6%.
Other revenue hit $1.2 billion, a huge 33% jump. The only downer: client incentives climbed 12%, reaching $4.3 billion, which directly reduces total revenue.
Legal and tax items impact expenses and bottom line
GAAP operating expenses hit $4.2 billion, up 27% from last year, mainly due to a $707 million litigation charge tied to the ongoing interchange multidistrict litigation.
The quarter also included a $333 million deferred tax benefit from changes in how the U.S. taxes foreign earnings. Other special items were $7 million in equity investment losses and $66 million in amortization and M&A costs.
Last year’s quarter had its own mix: $213 million in severance, $39 million from lease consolidations, $27 million for legal provisions, plus $75 million in equity losses and $80 million in amortization and acquisition costs.
Strip all that out, and non-GAAP operating expenses rose 16%, driven by higher headcount, marketing, and admin costs.
GAAP non-operating expense was $11 million, including the $7 million investment hit. Non-GAAP version of that figure was $4 million. The GAAP effective tax rate was 13.0%, while the non-GAAP rate came to 18.4% for the quarter.
By the end of December, Visa said it had $16.9 billion in cash, equivalents, and investment securities, while having 1.93 billion diluted Class A shares outstanding.
