By Senad Karaahmetovic
Visa (NYSE:V) reported adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter that easily topped the Street consensus.
Visa reported an adjusted EPS of $1.98, easily ahead of the $1.75 consensus. Revenue came in at $7.3 billion, again higher than the average analyst estimate of $7.06 billion.
Visa also reported a payment volume of $2.94 trillion, slightly lower than the consensus of $2.97 trillion. Cross-border payment volumes soared 40% to crush estimates on the back of the strong travel recovery.
The company said it processed transactions of $49.3 billion to beat the $48.82 billion consensus.
“Sustained levels of growth in overall payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions demonstrated the resiliency of our business model. Consumers are back on the road, visiting various corners of the world, resulting in cross-border travel volume surpassing 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020. While the economic outlook is unclear, we remain confident in our ability to execute with discipline and expand Visa’s role at the center of money movement,” said Alfred Kelly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa.
A Citi analyst urged investors to buy Visa stock amid solid beat and management commentary.
“We continue to look for a healthy near-term picture though we had already reduced CY23 estimates to incorporate a slowdown. Taken together, our estimates rise modestly. We believe V remains a good stock to own currently,” he told clients in a note.
An analyst from Morgan Stanley also reflected very positively on Visa stock. He hiked the price target to $291 per share from the prior $284 to reflect raised 22/23 EPS estimates by 5% and 2%, respectively.
The analyst remains positive on V stock given the “continued strong return of cross-border travel along with limited impact from macro headwinds.”
“Investors may still be "wait and see" mode, but we see V well positioned for variety of outcomes, Stay OW,” he urged clients in a note.