V - Visa Inc.
179.15 0.00 (0.00%)
After hours: 6:06PM EDT
| Previous Close | 179.31 |
| Open | 179.56 |
| Bid | 178.60 x 800 |
| Ask | 179.10 x 800 |
| Day's Range | 179.01 - 180.21 |
| 52 Week Range | 121.60 - 181.35 |
| Volume | 3,807,642 |
| Avg. Volume | 6,990,725 |
| Market Cap | 403.618B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 0.83 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 37.01 |
| EPS (TTM) | 4.84 |
| Earnings Date | Jul 23, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 1.00 (0.56%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-05-16 |
| 1y Target Est | 186.19 |
- Zacks•46 minutes ago
Buy American Express Stock Ahead of Q2 Earnings Report?
American Express (AXP) was able to hit a new all-time high Wednesday,
- Business Wire•3 hours ago
Visa Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend
Visa Inc. today announced that on July 15, 2019, its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of class A common stock , payable on September 3, 2019, to all holders of record as of August 16, 2019.
- American City Business Journals•5 hours ago
Big tech companies help U.S. T. Rowe Price stock funds beat S&P 500
T. Rowe Price saw 14 of its U.S. stock mutual funds outperform the S&P; 500\. Are you invested in any of them?
- Market Realist•5 hours ago
Libra Cryptocurrency Transactions Might Not Start in 2020
While Facebook set the middle of 2020 as the Libra Cryptocurrency's launch date, many people think that the deadline might be too aggressive.
- Market Realist•6 hours ago
Libra and Big Tech Go to Capitol Hill and Cryptocurrencies Fall
Yesterday, Facebook’s (FB) David Marcus, head of Facebook’s Calibra wallet, visited Capitol Hill to testify in front of the Senate Banking Committee.
- Market Realist•8 hours ago
What to Expect From Visa’s Q3 Earnings
On July 23, Visa (V) is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings for the quarter ending June 30. Analysts expect Visa’s third-quarter revenues to be $5,699 million.
- Zacks•9 hours ago
Visa Eyes Southeast Asian Market Via Investment in GOJEK
Visa (V) invests in GOJEK to expand footprint in the Southeast Asian payments market.
- Zacks•9 hours ago
Omnicom (OMC) Beats Earnings and Revenue Estimates in Q2
Omnicom's (OMC) second-quarter 2019 earnings improve on a year-over-year basis but sales decline.
- Zacks•9 hours ago
Here's Why You Should Add Accenture Stock to Your Portfolio
Considering the growing need for cloud-based applications and software, Accenture's (ACN) investment in this space should propel long-term growth.
- Business Wire•12 hours ago
Visa Acquires Payworks
Visa (NYSE:V) today announced it has acquired Payworks, a Munich-based provider of next-generation payment gateway software for the Point of Sale (POS). Visa will bring Payworks’ cloud-based solution for in-store payment processing together with its CyberSource digital payment management platform to create a fully integrated payment acceptance solution for merchants and acquirers.
- MarketWatch•12 hours ago
Visa earnings: As Facebook seeks to change payments, Visa stays the course
As Facebook Inc. swims in criticism over its new efforts in cryptocurrency, the stalwarts of payments continue to thrive. Visa Inc. shares hit a new all-time high last week, and the card company will be looking to show that it remains on the cutting edge of digital payments when it reports earnings next Tuesday afternoon.
- Reuters•20 hours ago
Visa invests in Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek
- Bloomberg•20 hours ago
Visa Invests in Go-Jek to Push Digital Payments in Southeast Asia
(Bloomberg) -- Visa Inc. has become the latest investor in ride-hailing giant Go-Jek as the two companies push digital payments across Southeast Asia.The world’s biggest payments network has invested an undisclosed amount in Go-Jek as part of the Indonesian company’s ongoing series F fundraising round, the two companies said Wednesday. The move follows Go-Jek’s announcement this month it had secured funding from Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank Plc, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co. The terms of that deal were also not disclosed.Go-Jek, which debuted its app for hailing motorbike taxis in Jakarta in 2015, is expanding beyond Indonesia to cater to consumers across Southeast Asia, building an all-purpose consumer app similar to Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat in China. It’s valued at $10 billion according to CB Insights, and hosts more than 20 on-demand services on its platform from food delivery to digital payments.The two companies have “a shared goal to bring formal financial services to the unbanked and underserved, including micro, small and medium businesses,” Visa Regional President Asia Pacific Chris Clark said in a statement. “We will explore ways to leverage the power of Go-Jek and Visa’s networks to expand financial access in Southeast Asia.”Visa and Mastercard Inc. have teamed up with mobile startups in Southeast Asia in recent years, where the vast majority of transactions are still cash-based and the pace of adoption of digital payments is slow. Mastercard has partnered with Go-Jek rival Grab, while Visa has announced a partnership with gaming accessories maker Razer Inc.To contact the reporter on this story: Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- PR Newswire•22 hours ago
Visa to invest in GOJEK and collaborate on enhancing digital payments across Southeast Asia
SINGAPORE, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa, the world's leading digital payments technology company has invested in GOJEK, Southeast Asia's leading mobile on-demand service and payments platform, as part of the latter's ongoing Series F fundraising round. The two companies will work together to provide greater options for cashless payments and more seamless experiences for consumers across Indonesia and Southeast Asia. With GO-PAY's position as Indonesia's market leader in digital payments and financial inclusion, this round of funding will support the acceleration of GOJEK's payment services across Southeast Asia.
- InvestorPlace•yesterday
Visa Stock Is a Winner, But Beware Valuation Risks
Shares of global payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) have been on fire in 2019, rising 35% through the first six months of 2019 to fresh all-time highs. The catalyst? Broadly favorable macroeconomic and market conditions, which have simultaneously supported continued healthy consumer spending trends and a richer valuation for Visa.Source: Shutterstock In the long run, Visa stock is a winner. The global payments world continues to pivot away from cash payments to card payments. This trend will persist for the foreseeable future. In developed economies, cash usage is still relatively high, giving ample room for further card payment volume growth. Meanwhile, in developing economies, the rapid urbanization and expansion of consumer middle classes will support bigger card payment volume growth.Visa is the biggest card payment player in the world. Given the card payments space continues to grow at a healthy pace over the next several years, so will Visa's revenues, profits, and Visa stock.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBut, that does not mean Visa stock is the best buy here and now.Visa stock has come a long way, very fast in 2019, and the present valuation on the stock looks slightly overextended. To be sure, low interest rates today support this slightly extended valuation. But, if and when rates do creep higher, that will pressure Visa's valuation.The investment implication? While Visa stock is a long-term winner, this victory is not worthy of paying $180 per share of V stock. Investors should rather wait for this red-hot winner to cool off, and consider buying the stock on the next dip. Visa Stock Is a Long-Term WinnerZooming out, the big picture trends supporting Visa stock are exceptionally favorable, and possess a high degree of visibility. This combination of high visibility and big growth ultimately pave a very tangible pathway for Visa stock to climb higher in the long run.Globally, consumers are pivoting away from cash transactions to non-cash transactions, because non-cash transactions are more convenient and more levered to digital shopping. Global non-cash transaction volume has risen at a steady 10%-plus clip over the past several years.This trend will persist. Cash usage is still relatively high in developed economies, despite the fact that cash is a less convenient and relevant payment method than card. Card penetration rates in developing economies are still low, and will continue to rise at a rapid pace as those developing economies urbanize and digitize. That's why global non-cash payments volume is expected to grow at a steady 10%-plus pace for the next several years, while emerging market non-cash payments volume is expected to grow at a 20%-plus pace.Visa is at the heart of this gloval global cards payment pivot. Excluding China, Visa controls 50% of the global card payments market. The company has consistently rattled off high single digit or better volume, transaction, and revenue growth over the past several quarters. As the global card payments market continues to expand, Visa's volume, transaction and revenue growth rates will continue to run, at least, at a high single digit. At the same time, margins will gradually expand with scale, and profit growth will be robust.By that time, Visa projects big profit growth. That growth will ultimately drive Visa stock higher in a multi-year window. The Valuation Today Is RichAlthough Visa stock is a long-term winner, the price tag on Visa stock today seems a bit rich, and may not produce the best multi-year returns.Visa reasonably projects as a high single digit revenue grower over the next several years. Margins also reasonably project to keep marching higher at ~100 basis points or less per year. Including buybacks, Visa's EPS growth should run around 10%-15% over the next several years. At that growth rate, Visa's EPS will settle around $11 by 2025. Based on a historically average 25 forward multiple and 10% discount rate, that equates to a fundamentally supported 2019 price target for Visa stock of roughly $170.Thus, at $180 mid-way through 2019, Visa stock seems slightly overvalued.To be sure, this slight overvaluation is supported by a low interest rate environment. As long as rates remain low, this slight overvaluation in Visa stock will hang around. But, if rates creep higher, that will pressure Visa's valuation, and ultimately drag on Visa stock. Bottom Line on V StockOverall, Visa stock is a winner. But, in the near term, low rates seem to have inflated the valuation on Visa stock to artificially high levels. It is a "tread with caution" situation. I would not be a buyer until the presently stretched valuation comes down to more reasonable levels.As of this writing, Luke Lango did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 9 Retail Stocks Goldman Sachs Says Are Ready to Rip * 7 Services Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2019 * 6 Stocks to Buy and 1 to Sell Based on Insider Trading The post Visa Stock Is a Winner, But Beware Valuation Risks appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- InvestorPlace•yesterday
3 Dow Jones Stocks to Buy for the Next Decade
The Dow Jones Industrial Average may be a fundamentally flawed index in terms of how it's weighted -- choosing to use price rather than the market cap -- but in terms of what companies are in the index, the Dow Jones can't be beat. Dow Jones stocks represent the "Bedrock of America" and some of the most important companies on the planet. There's a reason why financial media still quotes the close and movements of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.However, some of the thirty Dow Jones stocks are better than others. This is especially true when looking at what names will still be in the index down the road and continuing to lead in the world of business.Some Dow stocks feature very forward-looking businesses models and operations. It's these firms that will still be alive and kicking far into the future. And it's here that investors can score on some future potential and the gains and dividends that come with it. In the end, while the Dow is still important, but some stocks within the index are just better than others.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 10 Monthly Dividend Stocks to Buy to Pay the Bills With all of that said, you might be wondering: Which Dow Jones stocks have the best long-term potential? Here are three of the best stocks to buy from the index. Visa (V)Source: Shutterstock When it comes to long-term bets with the Dow Jones stocks, Visa (NYSE:V) has to be at the top of the list. The firm is one of the biggest plays on the continued shift toward a cashless society. And as one of the oldest and largest names in the space, V continues to dominate as we reach for plastic rather than cash.The reason is Visa's business model. The firm functions as a toll-road and collects fees from merchants, banks and other institutions every time someone uses a credit or debit card. V simply operates a secured payment network and moves money from one account to another. So, despite having a Visa logo on your credit card, V itself isn't issuing credit or lending you money.This middleman position is incredibly important for the future. More transactions continue to hit Visa's network. Over the first three months of the year, Visa processed more than 47 billion transactions. This was a 9% year-over-year jump and it's only growing further. With online commerce and fewer people using cash, Visa will be the dominant force going forward. The firm also continues to make inroads into additional services to keep upstarts like PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) at bay.The best part of all of this is that V features very fat margins and amazing cash flow growth. More transactions on its network simply mean bigger profits for the firm. And it continues to share those profits with its investors -- growing its dividend by 850% over the last decade.The future cashless society will run on Visa. That fact makes one of the best Dow stocks to buy for the long haul. Disney (DIS)Source: Shutterstock Let's be honest, as long people have children, Disney (NYSE:DIS) is going to be making money hand over fist. And lately, DIS has plenty of reasons to underscore that fact.For one thing, its buyout of 21st Century Fox created a media powerhouse. This brought many major movie and T.V. franchises under one roof. And if anybody can monetize that content through a variety of channels, it's Disney. And one of those ways will be its new streaming services.Disney has already begun pulling its shows and movies from rival streaming services in order to make them exclusives to its new Disney+ service. That's big because the vast of streaming is kids programming. With the complete Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar movie libraries as plenty of its original programming content from the Disney Channel, Disney+ will be the go-to channel for parents looking for entertainment.When you combine with the firm's new moves in its park and recreation divisions -- such as Star War's Galaxy Edge -- as well as continued movie development from its studios, there's a lot to like about DIS stock for the long haul. And we've already begun to see those results. Just take a look at Disney's record second-quarter earnings. Those great results don't even take into account streaming yet. * 7 ETFs With Oodles of Diversification For investors, DIS stock is a perfect blend of growth for the long haul. Cisco (CSCO)Source: Shutterstock These days, that famous scene in The Graduate wouldn't be about plastics, but about the cloud. Cloud computing, networking, the app economy continues to reshape how businesses and consumers do, well, everything. Which is why Dow Jones stock, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) continues to be an amazing long-term pick.CSCO's bread-n-butter remains networking and communications equipment. It still builds all the switches routers, modems and other guts needed to make modern data centers and the internet/cloud computing function. This isn't a bad business to be in as data center demand continues to grow. Analysts at Jones Lang LaSalle estimate that data center demand will double by 2021 as cloud adoption grows. That will send plenty of money Cisco's way.But the ace up Cisco's sleeve has to be its newfound focus on services and software.The firm now offers plenty of tangential products designed to go along with networking. They can not only build you a network but secure it, offer data analytics and other similar products to look after this equipment. These services often come with long subscription times and very fat margins. It's here, that CSCO has quickly become a cash cow and one of the best dividend stocks in the technology sector.Its approach on both equipment and services sales, coupled with rising overall data center demand, CSCO has the goods to keep growing far into the future.As of this writing, Aaron Levitt did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 9 Retail Stocks Goldman Sachs Says Are Ready to Rip * 7 Services Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2019 * 6 Stocks to Buy and 1 to Sell Based on Insider Trading The post 3 Dow Jones Stocks to Buy for the Next Decade appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Market Realist•yesterday
How Visa Stock Has Performed and What to Expect
Visa stock has risen about 37% and has outperformed the S&P; 500 Index so far in 2019.
- InvestorPlace•yesterday
Facebook’s Libra Surrenders to Authority
There are few companies that can match the profitability of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).Source: Shutterstock In 2018, Facebook reported profits of over $22 billion, 40% of its $55 billion in revenue. Investors are paying more than 10 times revenue for that, based on the stock's price of about $204 per share and a market cap of $583 billion.But I covered such a company this week: Visa (NYSE:V). After bringing $10.2 billion to the net income line last year, Visa was worth over 20 times revenue as trading opened July 16 at $181 per share and a $406 billion market cap.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsElectronic money is so powerful that Visa is now worth more than JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. bank, which has a market cap of $373 billion. * 9 Retail Stocks Goldman Sachs Says Are Ready to Rip Visa is what Facebook wants to be when it grows up. Libra is how it gets there. Ensuring ComplianceAfter a month spent talking about Libra as cryptocurrency, Facebook plans to tell Congress this week that Libra is more like Visa.Libra has registered as a Money Services Business and says its blockchain will comply with U.S. regulations regarding money laundering and financing of terrorism.In a blog post, Libra co-creator David Marcus asserts the Libra blockchain's "know your customer" practices will be "a big opportunity to increase the efficacy of financial crimes monitoring and enforcement."This turns the paradigm of cryptocurrencies on its head. It makes transactions less anonymous and more difficult to hide than in the present system.The difference is that, while banks today have to police compliance at the teller's window, so to speak, Libra will make its blockchain available to police. Facebook will control neither the network, the currency, nor the reserve backing it. Its Calibra subsidiary will just be running digital wallets. Is That Enough?Whether that's enough for Democrats is an open question. The House Financial Services Committee is drafting legislation called the "Keep Big Tech Out of Finance" act, specifically aimed at keeping Facebook out of the money business.Even the rest of the tech industry doubts Libra will get off the ground next year as planned. The wallet has already been banned in India, where banks are forbidden from handling cryptocurrencies.Marcus has disposed of objections about money laundering, but economists now claim Facebook threatens to replace the dollar and other currencies. That's because the Libra Association, based in Switzerland, would hold reserves of various currencies to back Libra, acting as a digital central bank. If it's less expensive to run than a real central bank - and that's the whole point - it could replace national banks, according to economist Peter Morici. The Bottom LineThe blockchain paradigm, in which transactions are part of a central database, avoiding the costs of real money, has inherent cost advantages over the systems used by central banks and transaction processors like Visa.Libra's structure, transactions backed by a currency reserve, is similar to that of Alibaba's (NASDAQ:BABA) Alipay. Its costs are like those of India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI).What those two systems have are huge, unified markets to grow in. China controls Alipay, India controls UPI. Low-cost systems for electronic transaction processing exist, and unless the West gets in the game it could be buried by them.That's the card Facebook, and other "fiat" coins like JPMorgan Chase's JPM Coin, are going to be playing in order to go into electronic money. Let us in, they'll say, or China and India get the business.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a new environmental story, Bridget O'Flynn and the Bear, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned shares in JPM and BABA. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 9 Retail Stocks Goldman Sachs Says Are Ready to Rip * 7 Services Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2019 * 6 Stocks to Buy and 1 to Sell Based on Insider Trading The post Facebook's Libra Surrenders to Authority appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks•yesterday
Visa (V) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week's Release
Visa (V) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
- TipRanks•yesterday
Mastercard and Visa Following Parallel Paths to Success
Few industries drip money as copiously as the credit card industry. Card issuers make money on both ends of every transaction – from fees and interest charges to the customer, as well as to the merchant. It’s a business model that has propelled both Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) to the top of the financial world, as leaders in the electronic transaction and payment processing segment.The two companies have other factors in common. Both report earnings this month, Visa on July 23 and Mastercard one week later, and both are expected to show notable gains. Last month, both companies were announced as founding members of Facebook’s (FB) Libra Association, indicating their joint interest in staying on top of developments in online transaction, and an indication of their corporate view toward P2P services and cryptocurrency.There is another commonality: both stocks have attracted attention from the same top analysts in the TipRanks database. Five-star analysts Bryan Keane of Deutsche Bank and Moshe Katri of Wedbush published notes on both companies, and raised their price targets based on their common upbeat outlook for the stocks. Let’s see what they had to say. Mastercard, Inc. (MA)Start with Mastercard. While the logo is ubiquitous on charge cards worldwide, Mastercard does not actually issue them itself. In this, it shares another similarity with Visa. Both companies permit their branding on cards issued by banks, credit unions, or other financial institutions, and then process the payments and transactions between card holders at point of purchase and the merchant.Katri was first to weigh in on Mastercard, writing on June 13, “expect results to benefit from strong secular growth tailwinds, as well as from accelerated, ongoing monetization efforts. MasterCard generates roughly 15% of revenues from non-transaction processing, services, and expect the mix to expand further as some of the new growth areas gain scale/traction.” In short, Katri expects that emerging non-card, online payment systems will form an increasing portion Mastercard’s business as the company adapts to the changing conditions of the app-based online world. In line with his expectation of the company’s success, Katri raised his price target on MA by 10% to $287, indicative of a modest 2.73% upside to the stock.Bryan Keane published his note on the charge card companies earlier this month, taking especial note of both companies’ participation in Libra. Of Mastercard, he believes that, while new transaction models will continue build, the company has “a long runway to benefit from the secular growth of card-based transactions.” Like Katri, he raised his target on MA, setting it at $330. His target indicates greater confidence in Mastercard, with an 18% upside.MA Earnings HistoryMastercard will report Q2 earnings on July 30. The company is expected to show an EPS of $1.82, a strong gain of 9.6% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.66. MA has beaten the earnings forecast for the last 10 quarters.Overall, Mastercard has a strong buy rating from the analyst consensus, based on 20 buys and 1 hold given in the past three months. Shares sell for $279, so the current average price target of $281 suggests a surprisingly modest 0.7% upside. As analysts Katri and Keane indicate, however, that price target may be too low.>>Click Here to see the full list of MA Analyst Ratings Visa, Inc. (V) Visa shares the branded card payment processor market space with Mastercard. It’s the larger of the two companies, with a market of $394 billion, compared to MA’s $285. Visa has the higher upside at the moment, too, but like Mastercard, it’s average price target may be too low.Turning to the details, in a July 2 note Moshe Katri focused on Visa’s participation in Libra. He notes that each member will be required to fund the new crypt to at least $10 million, but that that sum is small change for a company Visa’s size. He took closer note of the regulatory aspects and growth impact that Libra membership may offer Visa: “Regulatory bodies will be looking at Libra across multiple angles, including data privacy and security and the impact of a new currency on the global financial system. Visa is expected to benefit from a new secular growth tailwind as it gains market share in electronic payments through its involvement with Libra.” Katri added that market watchers may be overestimating how much disruption Libra will cause in the online transaction segment.With intrusive regulation and a possible flop for Libra, Katri did not change his price target on V, keeping it $187 for a 3.56% upside.Keane, on the other hand, sees greater potential benefits for Visa, both from the secular trends and participation in emerging trends like crypto. He says, “The expanding market share opportunity into new account-to-account payment flows and non-interchange-based revenue models are being underappreciated.” With this in mind, he sets a $225 price target on the stock, a 27% increase over his previous target and suggesting a 24% upside to the stock.When Visa is expected to report $1.33 EPS on July 23, in its Q1 2020 earnings call. The expectation is 10.8% higher than the year-ago quarter, and like MA, continues a trend of increasing earnings.V Earnings HistoryVisa is another strong buy, having received 13 buy ratings and 1 hold in the last three months. The stocks $185 price target suggests an upside of 2.6% to the current share price of $180. While Katri believes this is about right for the stock, Keane’s target would suggest greater room on the upside.>>Click Here for the full list of V Analyst RatingsVisit TipRanks’ Earnings Calendar to see which companies will be reporting in coming days.
- Zacks•yesterday
Global Payments Completes Credit Facilities to Support Merger
Global Payments (GPN) closes a fresh senior unsecured term loan and an unsecured revolving credit facility to provide financial cushion to its upcoming merger with Total Systems.
- MarketWatch•yesterday
Facebook’s Libra threatens the dollar’s international status
Properly managed, Libra could replace the dollar as the currency of choice for legitimate international transactions, writes Peter Morici.
- InvestorPlace•yesterday
At These Valuations, It’s Time to Take Profits on Visa Stock
Despite a valuation that would give an Internet entrepreneur a nosebleed, Visa (NYSE:V) still has analysts pounding the table for it. Marketwatch, for instance, still counts 39 analysts on the Visa stock beat. Click to Enlarge Source: Shutterstock Of that number 30 have it rated a buy, and only one has it as low as an underweight on valuation. This despite Visa being up 31% in the first half of 2019.It's extraordinary faith for a company that now has a market cap of $406 billion on $20.6 billion in 2018 revenue. Expectations are for earnings of $1.33 per share when it reports July 23, with a "whisper number" of $1.37 per share, on revenue of $5.7 billion. The price to earnings ratio for the last four quarters is over 37.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsAmong transaction processors, high valuations aren't unusual, but this is extreme. MasterCard (NYSE:MA) has a market cap of $285 billion on revenue of $15 billion. Square (NASDAQ:SQ) is worth $34 billion on 2018 revenue of $3.3 billion. * 7 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The Bull Case for Visa StockWhat the bulls see is the end of cash and its replacement by Visa's payment system. They also see a company with a net margin of 50%. Last year $10.3 billion of its $19.9 billion of revenue hit the net income line.Bulls say Visa continues to innovate with Visa B2B Connect, a business payment system enabling seamless payment connections between international banks.They like its purchase of privately-held Verifi, for an undisclosed price, as a way to help merchants reduce chargebacks.They love a pilot program that will let merchants offer installment payments directly from their cash registers. They're even cheering the $75 million purchase of Rambus' token and smart-ticketing business, even though that business cost Rambus itself $105 million two years ago.Quite simply, analysts believe Visa stock is unstoppable. Because its bank payment network is used by so many third-party processors, innovations that fail outside it can succeed inside it. When Visa tells other processors to jump, they still drop what they're doing to ask, "How high?" Visa Stock Has Real RisksThe risks with Visa are those of the global economy.This means the risks are rising. The global economy is now growing at just 2.6% per year, and the World Bank says risks are firmly on the downside. China's growth has slumped to an annual rate of 6.2% and the trade war continues to bite.Even if electronic payments are taking an ever-bigger piece of that pie, processors like Visa remain under threat on pricing and costs. India's Unified Payments Interface offers lower costs in order to reduce the use of cash there. Chinese systems like Alipay from Alibaba Group Holding (NASDAQ:BABA) cost less, too. Nationalism is also increasing. India won't let processors take customer data outside the country.Visa is trying to get ahead of low-cost systems by joining Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) Libra Association, but it still has enormous technology debt. Visa runs an incredibly costly network of charge agreements among banks, merchants and customers that has developed over decades and costs money to maintain. The Bottom Line on Visa StockVisa is the premier player in the global payments space, but does that make it a great investment at its current price?Square costs just 10 times revenue, and it's growing much faster. True, Square is only marginally profitable, while Visa is a profit-making machine, still growing at 10% per year. Visa looks safer.If you got into Visa as an income investor five years ago, when it was paying a dividend of nearly $2 per share on an investment of $63, your current yield is just 1.5%. It might be time to take some profits and invest them for a higher yield. Even younger investors might start looking for a good exit point. A profit is only paper until the cash is in your hand.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a new environmental story, Bridget O'Flynn and the Bear, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned shares in BABA. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy * 10 Stocks Driving the Market to All-Time Highs (And Why) * 7 Short Squeeze Stocks With Big Upside Potential The post At These Valuations, It's Time to Take Profits on Visa Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- GuruFocus.com•2 days ago
The Price of Knowledge
We will hypothesize on knowledge we believe is well known and overpriced and on what isn’t well known or well believed and could be underpriced Continue reading...
