This Stock Just Became the No. 1 Performer in the Dow

Investing

Published: July 27, 2019 7:43 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 6:02 pm

After weeks during which Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was the best performing Dow Jones industrials stock, its place has been taken by another famous company. Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) are up 39.22% to $183.69. The Dow is up 16.57% to 27,192.45.

Visa is among the top payment companies in the world. From the standpoint of employees, it is at the bottom end of the Dow with 17,000. The yield per employee is strong, however. Revenue last year was $20.6 billion. Net income was $10.3 billion.

One reason the stock has done so well is the earnings announced last week.

According to Barron’s:

Visa (ticker: V) on Tuesday reported June quarter earnings results above Wall Street expectations.

Visa posted adjusted earnings of $1.37 a share for its fiscal third quarter, versus the $1.32 analyst consensus. It generated $5.8 billion of revenue in the quarter, compared with the $5.7 billion average analyst estimate.

“Visa had an excellent third quarter in terms of accelerating business growth while advancing our strategy through acquisitions, investments and partnerships,” CEO Al Kelly said in the earnings release.

The payments company expects net revenue growth in the “low double-digits” for the full 2019 fiscal year, roughly in-line with the Wall Street consensus.

Reuters editors wrote:

Visa Inc beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly earnings on Tuesday, as a robust economy encouraged customers to spend more and boosted fees for the world’s largest payment processor.

And MarketWatch:

Visa Inc. on Tuesday reported stronger-than-expected financial results for the fiscal third quarter and raised its earnings outlook for the full year.

The company posted net income of $3.1 billion, or $1.37 a share, up from $2.8 billion, or $1 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share climbed to $1.37 from $1.20 a year prior, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had been modeling $1.33.

Visa’s revenue grew to $5.8 billion for the quarter, up from $5.2 billion in the year-earlier period. The FactSet consensus called for $5.7 billion in quarterly revenue.

Consumer spending is in Visa’s favor. The recent announcement of U.S. gross domestic product was driven by consumer spending, by the way.