Visa tops earnings expectations as travel spending hits recovery milestone

On an adjusted basis, Visa V, -0.83% earned $1.98 a share, up 33% from a year before and above the FactSet consensus, which was for $1.75 a share.

Revenue grew to $7.3 billion from $6.1 billion, while analysts had been expecting $7.1 billion.

“Against the backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty, significant exchange-rate headwinds and the suspension of our business in Russia, Visa had a very strong quarter,” Chief Executive Al Kelly said in a statement. He cheered the “resiliency of our business model.”

Visa saw payments volume rise by 12% as processed transactions increased 16%. Cross-border volume climbed by 40% while cross-border volume exclusive of intra-Europe transactions was up 48%.

“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,” Kelly continued. “While the economic outlook is unclear, we remain confident in our ability to execute with discipline.”

Shares were nearly flat in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Visa’s earnings come amid increasing unease about the state of the consumer in an uncertain economy, though companies have given mixed signals thus far in this reporting season.

While Walmart Inc. WMT, -7.60% cut its earnings forecast late Monday, warning that inflationary pressures around food costs were leaving consumers with less disposable income for categories like apparel, executives at American Express Co. AXP, -2.57% were upbeat last week about spending trends at the high end. Amex Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell told MarketWatch that “if you think about actual signs of stress, we don’t see any” within the business.

Furthermore, earlier Tuesday, Fiserv Inc. FISV, +4.25% Chief Executive Frank Bisignano said on the merchant-acquiring company’s earnings call that “the consumer remains resilient.”