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.
<h3 id="visa-sees-jump-in-volume-across-all-business-lines">Visa sees jump in volume across all business lines</h3>
Ryan, the CEO of Visa, said the growth was powered by holiday spending and consumer demand.
<blockquote>
 “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.
</blockquote>
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%.
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <img src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-29-at-22.08.29.png" alt="Visa Q1 earnings rises by 14% YoY to ~$3.14, with revenue up 12% to ~$10.7 billion" width="1920" height="880">
 <figcaption>
 Source: Visa
 </figcaption>
</figure>
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.
<h3 id="legal-and-tax-items-impact-expenses-and-bottom-line">Legal and tax items impact expenses and bottom line</h3>
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 <a href="https://investor.visa.com/financial-information/quarterly-earnings/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">included</a> 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&amp;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.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/newsletters/?utm_source=cp&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=inlineAds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">It's free</a>.

Visa reports GAAP net income of $5.9 billion and non‑GAAP net income of $6.1 billion

Table of Contents

Cryptopolitan_News

Other articles published on Jan 29, 2026

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!