New York, January 28, 2026, 19:25 EST — Trading after hours.
- Visa shares climbed roughly 0.5%, reaching $326.98 in late trading.
- Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded its rating to Buy and bumped up the target price to $385.
- Cantor Fitzgerald kicked off coverage setting a $400 target. Investors are now focused on Thursday’s earnings call.
Visa Inc shares ticked up roughly 0.5% to $326.98 in after-hours trading Wednesday. It’s a small gain, but enough to keep the payments giant in focus ahead of its quarterly earnings report.
The stock usually acts as a straightforward indicator of card spending—not so much the banks’ credit risk, but the level of transactions and travel. That focus is key this week, as investors look for updated data on cross-border fees and online sales following a series of mixed consumer reports.
Wall Street’s overall tone remained subdued following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates steady on Wednesday. Michael James, an equity sales trader at Rosenblatt Securities, said, “Whether you were bullish or bearish going into the press conference, you walked away feeling about the same.” (Reuters)
Rothschild & Co Redburn’s Fahed Kunwar bumped Visa to Buy from Neutral, lifting the price target to $385 from $327, per published analyst data. The upgrade hinges on Visa’s potential in an “agentic commerce world”—a nod to AI agents handling shopping and payments for consumers. Kunwar says this shifts risk toward merchants and platforms, making them rely more on Visa’s network controls and fraud tools. (TipRanks)
Cantor Fitzgerald shifted to a more bullish stance, initiating coverage of Visa with a Buy rating and a $400 price target. Analysts led by Ramsey El-Assal described Visa as a “once-in-a-generation model with deepest of moats,” despite ongoing regulatory concerns. They highlighted the “deep, duopolistic” market dominance shared by Visa and Mastercard. The note also projected fiscal first-quarter earnings of $3.14 per share on revenue near $10.68 billion. (TipRanks)
Visa spotlighted travel and spending habits with fresh survey data on winter sports trips and the Winter Olympics in Italy next month. According to the company, 55% of U.S. respondents are thinking about using AI tools to plan a winter getaway, and 40% have already used AI to organize or book their latest winter trip. The U.S. was the top winter vacation spot for 66% of those surveyed. “AI is changing how fans discover winter sports, where they choose to travel,” said Visa Chief Marketing Officer Frank Cooper III. Technology chief Rajat Taneja described AI as “a part of everyday life for travelers.” (Visa)
A smaller product announcement hit the wires that morning: Amenify revealed a partnership with Visa to create a renter-focused rewards program. It allows residents to link their existing Visa cards and rack up rewards on qualifying rent payments and local purchases. “We believe the future is agentic commerce,” Amenify CEO Everett Lynn said in the announcement. (Business Wire)
Visa revealed the results of its annual meeting in a recent SEC filing. Shareholders gave the green light to amendments restricting officer liability under Delaware law. The company officially filed these certificate changes in Delaware on January 28, according to the document. (Sec)
Europe introduced another source of tension. EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis emphasized the urgency of launching a digital euro to cut dependency on U.S. payment giants. He pointed out that Visa and Mastercard manage nearly two-thirds of card payments in the EU. “Today, our payments landscape is highly dominated by non-European providers,” Dombrovskis remarked. (Reuters)
Visa bulls face a clear risk: any sign of weaker spending or travel volumes could quickly weigh on the stock, even if quarterly results appear solid. Investors are also wary of fee disputes and regulatory changes, which may take years to fully unfold but can still pressure the company’s valuation.
Visa is set to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday, January 29, with the conference call scheduled for 5:00 p.m. EST. Investors will focus on updates around cross-border volume—transactions made outside the cardholder’s home country—and watch closely for any shifts in the company’s growth outlook for “value-added services.” These are fees Visa collects from fraud prevention, risk management, and data products beyond its core payment processing business. (Visa)
