Visa (NYSE: V) revenue jumps 15% for the year and the dividend rises

What happened

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reported fiscal 2026 net revenue of $45.9 billion, up 15%, and raised its quarterly dividend 16% to $0.780 per share. In constant dollars, net revenue for the year ended Sept. 30 grew 14%.

GAAP net income was $23.5 billion, up 17%. GAAP earnings per share were $12.32, up 21%. Per-share growth beat net income growth because the average diluted class A share count fell to 1.91 billion from 1.97 billion in fiscal 2025.

Fourth-quarter net revenue was $12.1 billion, up 13%, and GAAP earnings per share were $3.19, up 22%. Quarterly revenue growth trailed the full-year pace.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Fiscal 2026 net revenue	$45.9 billion	from $40.00 billion, +15%	Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)
Fiscal 2026 GAAP net income	$23.5 billion	from $20.06 billion, +17%	Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)
Fiscal 2026 GAAP diluted EPS	$12.32	from $10.20, +21%	Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)
Fiscal 2026 non-GAAP diluted EPS	$13.27	from $11.47, +16%	Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)
Quarterly cash dividend per share	$0.780	+16%	Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)
BioCatch cash purchase price	$2.4 billion		Visa earnings release (SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1)

Read more: Visa (V) company research

Where the growth came from

Volume drove the year, according to the earnings release. Payments volume rose 9% in constant dollars, total cross-border volume rose 13%, and processed transactions rose 9% to 281.3 billion.

Every revenue line grew, at different speeds. Data processing revenue rose 17% to $23.4 billion, and service revenue rose 14% to $19.9 billion. International transaction revenue grew 8% to $15.3 billion, the slowest of the four lines. Other revenue jumped 40% to $5.7 billion.

Client incentives, which are deducted to reach net revenue, rose 16% to $18.3 billion.

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What the one-time items did to earnings

GAAP operating expenses rose 11% to $17.8 billion. Non-GAAP operating expenses rose 16%, a point faster than net revenue. The release blames personnel and marketing costs.

Large items sit inside the GAAP result. Charges included $1.7 billion for a litigation provision tied to the interchange multidistrict litigation case and other legal matters, $563 million of severance costs and $282 million for donating investments to the Visa Foundation. A $314 million deferred tax benefit and $124 million of net equity investment gains went the other way.

Without these and other items, non-GAAP net income was $25.3 billion, up 12%, and non-GAAP earnings per share were $13.27, up 16%. GAAP net income therefore outgrew the non-GAAP figure. The litigation provision in fiscal 2025 was $2.5 billion.

Shareholder returns and the BioCatch price

Visa returned $25.6 billion through buybacks and dividends, more than the $23.7 billion it generated from operations. Cash and cash equivalents fell to $12.94 billion from $17.16 billion a year earlier.

Visa bought back about 61 million class A shares for $20.5 billion, an average of $335.49 per share. In the fourth quarter it paid an average of $369.12, so later buybacks cost more. Authorization of $24.4 billion remained at Sept. 30.

On Aug. 3, Visa announced a deal to buy BioCatch, a fraud-intelligence provider, for $2.4 billion in cash. BioCatch's tools use behavior and multiple signals to spot fraud. Visa held $14.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investment securities at Sept. 30.

Why it matters

OptimistFi has argued that Visa's value depends on remaining the default trust layer for digital commerce. Growth in payments, cross-border and processed transactions, plus a fraud-intelligence purchase, fits that view. CEO Ryan McInerney called trust "the next growth vector for Visa."

Net revenue was $40.00 billion in fiscal 2025, so growth works out to 14.8% on OptimistFi's calculation. That matches the rounded 15% Visa reported.

The release itself carries the caveats. Litigation provisions ran through both fiscal years, and non-GAAP costs grew faster than revenue. Its risk list includes the continued push to lower acceptance costs and challenge industry practices.

What's next

Visa expects BioCatch to close by the end of the fiscal second quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. A slip past that quarter would push the first test of the deal further out.

The higher dividend is payable Dec. 1 to holders of record as of Nov. 10.

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