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Will Visa's (V) Q2 Earnings Benefit From Higher Revenues?

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Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is scheduled to announce fiscal second-quarter 2018 results on Apr 25, 2018, after the closing bell. Its quarterly revenues and earnings are expected to improve year over year.

The company is expected to benefit from a strong global economy, which is likely to aid payments volume growth.

Last quarter, Visa’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.2%. Also, the bottom line improved 25.6% year over year. Results were driven by continued growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions.

Earnings Surprise History

The company boasts an attractive earnings surprise history, having surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 8.11%. This is depicted in the chart below:

Visa Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Why a Likely Positive Surprise?

Our proven model indicates that chances of Visa beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate are high as it has the right combination of two key ingredients — positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for Visa is +1.62%.

Zacks Rank: Visa has a Zacks Rank #3, which increases the predictive power of ESP.

Factors Likely to Impact Q2 Results

Visa’s second-quarter results are likely to be driven by higher revenues from growth of key business drivers such as payments volume, cross border volume and process transactions.  

The company is likely to report an increase in service revenues, a component of total revenues and recognized based on payments volumes in the prior quarter, which were up 10% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Service revenues stands at $2.26 billion, up 13.2% year over year.

Healthy economies around the world and growth and acceptance of electronic and mobile commerce, especially in developed countries, have likely led to an increase in processed transactions, which should drive Data Processing revenues. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is $2.09 billion, up 13.6% year over year.

High gas prices and increased spending in retail and telecom are likely to have buoyed Visa’s total payments volumes. The Zacks Consensus Estimate indicates an increase of 11.4% to $1.93 billion in the fiscal second quarter.

A decline in U.S dollar in the January to March 2018 period might have aided an increase in cross-border business growth resulting from increased inbound activity.

The company is making significant investments in its business initiatives and strategic priorities, which include investments in its people and areas of digital products, technology operations and merchant solutions to position the company for long-term sustainable growth. This may reflect in higher expense levels in the to-be-reported quarter.  Also expenses related to Winter Olympics as well as Europe integration costs are likely to cause a spike in overall expense. The company expects double-digit increase in operating expenses in the to-be reported quarter as well.

A decline in tax rate as a result of the Tax Reforms and Jobs Act will aid margins. Share repurchases made by the company will further boost its bottom line.

Other Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some companies that you may also consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:  

Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) is expected to report first-quarter 2018 earnings on May 2. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.83% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here..

Total System Services, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +1.01% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is expected to report first-quarter earnings results on Apr 24.

Worldpay, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +0.78% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is expected to report first-quarter earnings results on May 10.

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