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Visa is Betting on Stablecoins and AI: Why Should Investors Care?
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Key Takeaways
Visa's stablecoin-linked payment volume rose nearly 200% as business use expanded.
About 17% of Visa's stablecoin-linked card volume came from business and commercial card programs.
Stablecoin settlement topped a $20B annualized run rate, up more than 15-fold from a year ago.
Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is seeing stablecoins gain traction in business payments as the technology moves beyond crypto trading. In fiscal 2026 year to date, about 17% of Visa’s stablecoin-linked card volume came from business and commercial card programs, highlighting their potential to improve payment speed, liquidity and settlement efficiency.
The company now supports more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs across consumer and business use cases, with payment volume up nearly 200% year over year. Visa says companies are testing stablecoins for supplier payments, treasury operations, payouts, liquidity management and cross-border commerce.
Industry research cited by Visa estimates annual stablecoin payment volume at $401-$527 billion. Service fees account for about $56 billion, payroll for $43 billion and supplier payments for $28 billion. Cross-border activity is especially important: 43% of analyzed B2B stablecoin payment volume crossed borders.
Financially, stablecoin use could expand Visa’s addressable payment flows without requiring it to replace its core network. By linking stablecoin settlement, payouts and pre-funding with its card and merchant network, Visa could capture more transaction volume as business adoption grows. Longer term, stablecoins could support further cross-border growth, commercial payments and Visa Direct activity. The key question is whether rising volume converts into durable fees while Visa manages regulation, competition and pricing pressure.
How Visa is Expanding Its Stablecoin Reach
Visa is expanding across several parts of the stablecoin ecosystem rather than betting on a single product. It has expanded stablecoin settlement across nine blockchains, letting more issuers and acquirers settle Visa obligations onchain. It is pushing stablecoin-linked cards further into everyday spending.
Its partnership with Bridge is expected to take these cards to more than 100 countries, giving users a way to spend stablecoin balances across Visa’s merchant network. Visa has also launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which lets banks, fintechs and other payment providers mint, hold, transfer and redeem stablecoins through a Visa-managed environment.
In September 2026, it introduced an onchain credit model that uses VisaNet settlement data to help stablecoin-linked card programs access working capital. Its stablecoin settlement volume has crossed a $20 billion annualized run rate, up more than 15-fold from a year ago.
More Growth Engines Beyond Stablecoins
Visa’s Value-Added Services business remains an earnings driver. VAS revenues rose to $3.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 from $2.8 billion a year earlier, supported by demand for advisory, fraud prevention, risk management and marketing services. These services broaden Visa’s revenue mix while strengthening relationships with banks, merchants and other clients.
Visa is pushing into agentic commerce, where AI agents could search, compare and buy for consumers. Through Visa Intelligent Commerce, the company is building tools that let AI agents use tokenized Visa credentials while giving banks, merchants and consumers control over permissions, authentication and fraud risk.
Visa launched Intelligent Commerce Connect to help businesses plug into agent-led payments. Its Agentic Directory and Agent Score help merchants identify legitimate AI agents and judge whether their sites are ready for automated shopping. Visa is working with OpenAI and other technology partners to bring its payment capabilities into AI-driven purchasing experiences.
Visa recently expanded testing through its Agentic Ready program. Its September 2026 Trust Index found that 61% of surveyed U.S. consumers would trust Visa to handle AI-powered payments. If agentic commerce scales, Visa’s brand, tokenization capabilities and merchant reach could make it a bridge between AI platforms and payment networks.
The core business remains solid. Visa’s transaction-based model gives it exposure to spending across travel, retail, dining and digital services without taking on lending risk. In the fiscal third quarter, processed transactions rose 10% year over year to 71.7 billion, showing healthy growth as newer payment technologies develop.
Strong Cash Flow Supports Capital Returns
Visa’s cash generation supports shareholders. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $16.3 billion during the first nine months of fiscal 2026, while free cash flow reached $15.2 billion. In the third quarter alone, Visa returned $6.2 billion through dividends and share repurchases, including $4.9 billion of buybacks. It still had $28.4 billion available under its repurchase authorization as of June 30, 2026.
Zacks Estimates Signal Steady Growth
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 EPS implies a 15.3% and 13.3% uptick, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Similarly, the consensus mark for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 revenues suggests a 14.6% and 10.5% increase, respectively.
The company beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 2.8%.
Over the year-to-date period, Visa shares climbed 2.8%, outperforming the industry’s 14.4% drop but trailing the S&P 500’s 12.3% gain. Meanwhile, Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) slipped 3.3%, while American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) fell 18.2%.
Visa trades above the industry average, although a premium valuation has long been common. The stock is trading at 24.04X forward price/earnings versus its five-year median of 25.63X and the industry average of 16.89X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Meanwhile, Mastercard and American Express are currently trading at 24.87X and 15.42X, respectively.
How Should You Play Visa Stock Now?
Visa’s advantage remains simple: it runs a vast payment network without taking on the credit risk carried by traditional lenders. Its scale, merchant reach and fee-based model support strong economics, while stablecoins, value-added services and agentic commerce add new growth avenues.
Wall Street remains broadly constructive. Visa trades below the average analyst price target of $421.05, implying about 16.7% upside. Targets range from $330 to $466, showing different levels of expectations.
Healthy cash generation and steady earnings estimates add further support, while valuation remains below its five-year median. With healthy earnings growth, strong cash generation and several emerging growth avenues, Visa’s Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) supports a positive stance on the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Visa is Betting on Stablecoins and AI: Why Should Investors Care?
Key Takeaways
Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is seeing stablecoins gain traction in business payments as the technology moves beyond crypto trading. In fiscal 2026 year to date, about 17% of Visa’s stablecoin-linked card volume came from business and commercial card programs, highlighting their potential to improve payment speed, liquidity and settlement efficiency.
The company now supports more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs across consumer and business use cases, with payment volume up nearly 200% year over year. Visa says companies are testing stablecoins for supplier payments, treasury operations, payouts, liquidity management and cross-border commerce.
Industry research cited by Visa estimates annual stablecoin payment volume at $401-$527 billion. Service fees account for about $56 billion, payroll for $43 billion and supplier payments for $28 billion. Cross-border activity is especially important: 43% of analyzed B2B stablecoin payment volume crossed borders.
Financially, stablecoin use could expand Visa’s addressable payment flows without requiring it to replace its core network. By linking stablecoin settlement, payouts and pre-funding with its card and merchant network, Visa could capture more transaction volume as business adoption grows. Longer term, stablecoins could support further cross-border growth, commercial payments and Visa Direct activity. The key question is whether rising volume converts into durable fees while Visa manages regulation, competition and pricing pressure.
How Visa is Expanding Its Stablecoin Reach
Visa is expanding across several parts of the stablecoin ecosystem rather than betting on a single product. It has expanded stablecoin settlement across nine blockchains, letting more issuers and acquirers settle Visa obligations onchain. It is pushing stablecoin-linked cards further into everyday spending.
Its partnership with Bridge is expected to take these cards to more than 100 countries, giving users a way to spend stablecoin balances across Visa’s merchant network. Visa has also launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which lets banks, fintechs and other payment providers mint, hold, transfer and redeem stablecoins through a Visa-managed environment.
In September 2026, it introduced an onchain credit model that uses VisaNet settlement data to help stablecoin-linked card programs access working capital. Its stablecoin settlement volume has crossed a $20 billion annualized run rate, up more than 15-fold from a year ago.
More Growth Engines Beyond Stablecoins
Visa’s Value-Added Services business remains an earnings driver. VAS revenues rose to $3.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 from $2.8 billion a year earlier, supported by demand for advisory, fraud prevention, risk management and marketing services. These services broaden Visa’s revenue mix while strengthening relationships with banks, merchants and other clients.
Visa is pushing into agentic commerce, where AI agents could search, compare and buy for consumers. Through Visa Intelligent Commerce, the company is building tools that let AI agents use tokenized Visa credentials while giving banks, merchants and consumers control over permissions, authentication and fraud risk.
Visa launched Intelligent Commerce Connect to help businesses plug into agent-led payments. Its Agentic Directory and Agent Score help merchants identify legitimate AI agents and judge whether their sites are ready for automated shopping. Visa is working with OpenAI and other technology partners to bring its payment capabilities into AI-driven purchasing experiences.
Visa recently expanded testing through its Agentic Ready program. Its September 2026 Trust Index found that 61% of surveyed U.S. consumers would trust Visa to handle AI-powered payments. If agentic commerce scales, Visa’s brand, tokenization capabilities and merchant reach could make it a bridge between AI platforms and payment networks.
The core business remains solid. Visa’s transaction-based model gives it exposure to spending across travel, retail, dining and digital services without taking on lending risk. In the fiscal third quarter, processed transactions rose 10% year over year to 71.7 billion, showing healthy growth as newer payment technologies develop.
Strong Cash Flow Supports Capital Returns
Visa’s cash generation supports shareholders. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $16.3 billion during the first nine months of fiscal 2026, while free cash flow reached $15.2 billion. In the third quarter alone, Visa returned $6.2 billion through dividends and share repurchases, including $4.9 billion of buybacks. It still had $28.4 billion available under its repurchase authorization as of June 30, 2026.
Zacks Estimates Signal Steady Growth
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Visa’s fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 EPS implies a 15.3% and 13.3% uptick, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Similarly, the consensus mark for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 revenues suggests a 14.6% and 10.5% increase, respectively.
The company beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 2.8%.
Visa Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Visa Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Visa Inc. Quote
Price Performance & Valuation
Over the year-to-date period, Visa shares climbed 2.8%, outperforming the industry’s 14.4% drop but trailing the S&P 500’s 12.3% gain. Meanwhile, Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) slipped 3.3%, while American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) fell 18.2%.
YTD Price Performance - V, MA, AXP, Industry & S&P 500
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Visa trades above the industry average, although a premium valuation has long been common. The stock is trading at 24.04X forward price/earnings versus its five-year median of 25.63X and the industry average of 16.89X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Meanwhile, Mastercard and American Express are currently trading at 24.87X and 15.42X, respectively.
How Should You Play Visa Stock Now?
Visa’s advantage remains simple: it runs a vast payment network without taking on the credit risk carried by traditional lenders. Its scale, merchant reach and fee-based model support strong economics, while stablecoins, value-added services and agentic commerce add new growth avenues.
Wall Street remains broadly constructive. Visa trades below the average analyst price target of $421.05, implying about 16.7% upside. Targets range from $330 to $466, showing different levels of expectations.
Healthy cash generation and steady earnings estimates add further support, while valuation remains below its five-year median. With healthy earnings growth, strong cash generation and several emerging growth avenues, Visa’s Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) supports a positive stance on the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.