Visa's Profit Rises, But Misses Estimates

Visa Inc. reported on Monday fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.51 billion, or 62 cents a share, up from $1.07 billion, or 43 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, but below the FactSet earnings-per-share consensus of 63 cents. Revenue rose to $3.571 billion from $3.23 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $3.566 billion. The credit card giant said it expects fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS growth in the low end of the mid-teens percentage range, while the FactSet EPS consensus of $3 implies 14.5% growth. The company announced a new $5 billion stock buyback program. Earlier, Visa said it reached a deal to buy Visa Europe Ltd. in a deal valued at about $23.4 billion. Visa's stock, which was down 2% in premarket trade, has climbed 18% year to date through Friday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 0.9%.