The Quarter in Brief
Visa reported its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, the three months ended September 30, after the market closed on October 27. Net revenue was $12.14 billion, up 13% from $10.72 billion a year earlier. Reported earnings per share were $3.19, up 22% from $2.62. Non-GAAP earnings per share, the company's own measure that leaves out items such as litigation provisions, gains and losses on equity investments and the amortization of acquired intangible assets, were $3.48, up 17% from $2.98.
Both figures were a little ahead of what analysts had expected: about $12.09 billion of net revenue and about $3.44 of non-GAAP earnings per share. What set this quarter apart was the price of that growth. Client incentives, the payments Visa makes to banks and merchants to win and keep their card business, rose 21% to $5.12 billion, faster than Visa's three largest revenue lines, so net revenue grew more slowly than the revenue Visa earns before those payments.