Jan 29 (Reuters) - Visa exceeded estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, buoyed by increased card usage during the holiday season amid resilient U.S. consumer spending in the last three months of 2025.
Higher-income households were the primary drivers, with the holidays seeing record shoppers and a surge in online sales.
Visa's services are used by billions worldwide for everyday purchases, making it a barometer for economic health.
Lower and middle-income households had limited ability to substitute
purchases, however, as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs raised prices for consumers.
Global payment volumes, a gauge of overall consumer and business spending on Visa's network, jumped 8% on a constant-dollar basis in the reported quarter.
Peer Mastercard also reported strong results in the quarter, as resilient spending on travel, leisure and everyday essentials boosted transaction volumes for the payment processor.
However, Visa's cross-border total volumes grew at a slightly slower pace of 12% in the first quarter, compared with the year-ago period.
Shares of the company were down 1.7% in extended trading. Visa's stock gained nearly 11% in 2025, outperforming Mastercard but lower than American Express and broader market returns.
American Express is scheduled to report quarterly results on Friday morning.
Visa's cross‑border metrics - a real‑time proxy for global trade and travel, a focus point for markets since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcements last year - are closely watched by analysts and economists.
In the last quarter, Visa's finance chief Chris Suh said in an interview with Reuters that the company had not seen a meaningful impact from tariffs.
Its adjusted net income came in at $6.1 billion, or $3.17 per share, in the three months ended December 31. That compares with $5.5 billion, or $2.75 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting a profit of $3.14 apiece, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Alan Barona)
