New York, Jan 27, 2026, 11:29 (EST) — Regular session
- Visa shares dipped roughly 0.9% by mid-morning, with Mastercard and American Express also retreating
- Morgan Stanley flags a political hurdle for the Credit Card Competition Act
- Cantor Fitzgerald kicks off coverage of Visa with an Overweight rating and sets a $400 price target; earnings are expected on Jan. 29
Visa Inc shares dropped roughly 0.9%, hitting $325.56 in late morning trading Tuesday. Mastercard declined 0.5%, while American Express slid 1.4%.
Traders are weighing two immediate factors: Visa’s quarterly earnings set for later this week, and new developments in Washington concerning credit-card fees and routing.
Payment networks are on edge over any sign that lawmakers might push for greater competition in credit-card transaction routing. This matters because it can cut into the fees they collect each time a transaction goes through the network.
Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette said sentiment around Visa and Mastercard has brightened following what he described as a political setback for the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA). He pointed to a Politico report revealing Senator Roger Marshall “agreed not to offer a credit card amendment” during Senate Agriculture Committee markup, reducing the chance the bill will be tied to advancing legislation. Faucette noted this development “should assuage near-term fears” and “makes the networks easier to buy.” Morgan Stanley’s downside scenario had assumed a 10% shift of U.S. credit volumes to alternative networks and roughly 25% price pressure on U.S. credit fees, translating into about a 3.5% drag on Visa’s 2026 revenue estimates. 1
Durbin and Marshall brought the CCCA back this month, pitching it as a move to boost competition in the credit-card space. The proposed law would force banks over a certain size to support at least two unaffiliated card networks on their credit cards, with at least one being outside the Visa and Mastercard duopoly. 2
Cantor Fitzgerald’s Ramsey El-Assal kicked off coverage on Visa with an Overweight rating and set a $400 price target. Overweight signals the expectation that Visa will outperform its peers. Cantor highlighted the ongoing global move from paper to electronic payments, noting that Visa’s value-added services and “new flows” broaden its addressable market and help “future-proof the model.” 3
Visa plans to release its fiscal first-quarter results after the market closes on Jan. 29, followed by an audio webcast at 5 p.m. Eastern. Investors will zero in on cross-border volumes, seen as a gauge of travel and international spending, along with “client incentives” — the payments and rebates Visa offers banks and partners that lower its reported revenue. 4
The legislative talk has been chaotic. According to the American Bankers Association’s Banking Journal, Marshall suggested inserting the routing language into a cryptocurrency market-structure bill slated for the Senate Agriculture Committee. 5
Any renewed effort could still challenge the networks’ capacity to set U.S. credit fees, even if the final legislation diverges from earlier drafts. Visa is also fending off a Justice Department lawsuit accusing it of illegally monopolizing the U.S. debit network market. 6
Thursday’s earnings report and management’s take on volumes, incentives, and policy will be the next major catalyst. Until then, Visa’s shares will probably bounce around, driven by interest rates, consumer spending data, and the latest Washington news.
