Can Visa Stock Keep Climbing After The World Cup?

Visa (V) stock has run well ahead of the market, returning 13.5% over the past three months against 4.2% for the S&P 500. It now trades about 4% below its 52-week high. The next leg depends less on card swipes than on the services Visa sells on top of its network, which now bring in almost a third of its revenue.

What Does Visa Sell Besides The Network Itself?

Visa calls them value-added services. In fiscal Q3 2026 they brought in $3.8 billion, up 34% in constant dollars. Total net revenue was $11.6 billion, up 13% on the same basis, so the services line grew more than twice as fast as the company.

By management’s account, the vast majority of that revenue is linked to transactions, cards, and accounts, so it grows as the network grows. Visa’s subscription manager and stop payment services now have 2 billion credentials enrolled. Pismo, the cloud-native issuer processing and core banking platform Visa bought, is reported in the same line and has entered 19 new markets since the acquisition.

The pace is rising, too. The same line grew 27% to $3.3 billion in fiscal Q2 2026. The CFO put fiscal Q3 growth down to three causes: pricing, an acquisition, and underlying demand that included marketing services work tied to the FIFA World Cup.

Did The World Cup Drive That Jump?

Some of it, and management says so openly. Marketing services, which builds client campaigns on Visa’s sponsorships, delivered more than 300 FIFA engagements to more than 140 clients over the last 12 months. The question is what is left after the tournament.

The better evidence sits in the other three portfolios. By the CFO’s account, issuing solutions, acceptance solutions, and risk and security solutions together grew more than 20% year over year in every quarter over the last 12 months, in constant dollars. Those three sit outside the marketing work the tournament lifted.

Fraud tools are one visible source of that demand. On the fiscal Q2 2026 call, the CEO said fraud ranked among the top three or four concerns of client CEOs and that demand for Visa’s fraud products had risen across the board. In August Visa agreed to buy BioCatch, a provider of behavioral fraud intelligence, to add to its existing fraud, risk, and security solutions.

What Should You Watch Before Betting On Visa’s Services?

Visa rarely soars. It has gained more than 30% in under two months only three times since 2012, the most recent in 2020. So the realistic upside is a steadier climb, carried by a line of revenue growing far faster than the rest. Visa has grown and diversified its business while keeping its industry-leading operating margins, the CFO says.

The bear’s doubt is that the tournament flattered the numbers. Visa does not guide by business line, so the test comes in the reported results: whether those three portfolios keep growing faster than 20% and carry the services line once the FIFA marketing work has passed. Management will set its fiscal 2027 outlook when it reports fiscal Q4 2026.

If those three hold that pace, the services case stands on its own. To find other companies where management keeps lifting its outlook, use our guidance-driven momentum screen.

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