Visa Inc (V) stock analysis
Visa Inc (V) clears 2 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 1 of 5 Lynch-style checks. A free-cash-flow DCF does not fit financial services companies, so no margin of safety is shown. Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +2.9% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Visa do?
Visa runs the payment network behind Visa credit and debit cards. It does not lend money or issue most cards, since banks do that; Visa earns small fees each time a card is used.
Brands and businesses it owns
- Visa
- Visa Direct
- CyberSource
What stands out about Visa?
- Misses 4 of the 8 value filters. It fails Trailing P/E < 25 (33.92), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.42) and Price/Book < 8 (21.79) and 1 more; the other 2 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Close to its 52-week high. At $414.34, V is within 0.0% of its high of $414.05, 40.2% above its low of $295.52. See the range.
- Strongest against peers: net margin. At 50.8% (peer median 20.2%) it ranks 1st of 40 among financial services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: dividend yield. At 0.65% (peer median 1.56%) it ranks 31st of 33 among financial services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
How has Visa's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Visa undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) n/a (Financial Services)
- P/E vs. its own history 33.9x · the middle Real range: 25.4x–39.6x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 4.14/5 49 analysts this month: 12 strong buy, 32 buy, 5 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 4.12 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) n/a (Financial Services)
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.47 · accruals −3.1% of assets · 112% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 2.2% of revenue. From the latest 10-K (year to Sep 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +2.9% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.6% + buybacks 2.4% − stock comp 0.1%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 30%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $0.14 per $1 of new profit · See's-like Operating profit $11B → $23B, capital needed $42B → $43B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 53% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 2.42 · Well above fair P/E 33.9× ÷ 14.0% a year of growth behind it. 272nd lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 3 of 4 · misses price Capital-light growth: cleared; Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 2.42, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 2 of 4 measures above the median Compared with the 39 other financial services stocks this site tracks: 2 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Visa compare with its peers?
2 of 4 measures sit above the median of the 39 other financial services stocks tracked here, 2 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 21.7× 33.9× ✕31st of 37
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 18% 61% ✓5th of 40
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 20.2% 50.8% ✓1st of 40
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.56% 0.65% ✕31st of 33
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and V doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: V is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, and earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry. Where it comes up short: V carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now, and trades rich relative to owner earnings, the real cash the business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✕
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and V falls short of his bar. In its favor: V is growing earnings at the steady 10-20% pace of a proper Stalwart. Where it comes up short: V fails his signature PEG test, he'd call this pricey for the growth on offer, carries more debt than he liked to see, even allowing for the extra room a large, stable business gets, is asking investors to pay a steep multiple for that growth, and isn't generating free cash flow to match the growth story.
- PEG < 1 ✕
- EPS growth 10%-20% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✕
- P/E < 27 ✕
- Price/FCF < 30 ✕
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Visa pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $766.4B
- Trailing P/E < 25 33.92
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 2.42
- Price/Book < 8 21.79
- Price/Sales < 7 17.23
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +10.2%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Visa's margin of safety?
A standard free-cash-flow DCF doesn't fit how financial services companies report cash flow.
Where is Visa in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Visa?
20,612,281 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Visa? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case n/a (Financial Services)
- Short interest under 5% of float 1.2%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 2/6 passed
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Visa shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from V's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Visa's 10-year financials show?
From V's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
A single trade isn't automatically bullish or bearish. Insiders sell for all kinds of personal reasons. Most recent filings for V:
Frequently asked questions about Visa
What kind of company is Visa?
Visa runs the payment network behind Visa credit and debit cards. It does not lend money or issue most cards, since banks do that; Visa earns small fees each time a card is used. Brands and businesses it owns include Visa, Visa Direct and CyberSource. This site groups it with Financial Services stocks.
Why does Visa have no margin of safety on this site?
This site's DCF values a company from its free cash flow, and that does not fit financial companies, whose operating cash flow swings with client money, loans and trading rather than with what is left over for owners. So V gets no margin of safety; judge it on the other checks on this page, such as its filters, shareholder yield and ranking against its peers. The method is in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Visa pass?
V passes 2 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($766.4B) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+10.2%). It misses Trailing P/E < 25 (33.92), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.42), Price/Book < 8 (21.79) and Price/Sales < 7 (17.23). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Where is Visa trading compared with its 52-week range?
At $414.34, V is at its 52-week high of $414.05, 40.1% above its 52-week low of $295.52.
Which well-known investors own Visa?
Among the investors whose SEC 13F filings this site tracks, Chris Hohn (19.8% of the portfolio; unchanged), Chuck Akre (7.5% of the portfolio; trimmed the position), Bill Ackman (5.8% of the portfolio; a new position), Terry Smith (5.1% of the portfolio; trimmed the position) and Seth Klarman (4.4% of the portfolio; unchanged) held V as of June 30, 2026. 13F filings cover only US-listed equities and arrive up to 45 days after the quarter ends, so they lag the real portfolios. See Superinvestors.
When does Visa report earnings next?
Visa's next earnings report is expected on October 27, 2026 after the market closes, with analysts expecting earnings of $3.51 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 3 times, by an average of +2.2%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Visa's 10-K annual report for the year ended Sep 30, 2025, filed Nov 6, 2025 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Visa Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Visa Inc (V) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.