Visa's Stock Jumps After Better-than-expected Results, Stock Split

Shares of Visa Inc. shot up 4% in after-hours trade, after the credit card company beat profit and sales expectations, and announced plans for a four-for-one stock split. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, earnings rose 11% from last year to $1.6 billion, or $2.53 a share, beating the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $2.49 a share. Revenue increased 7% to $3.4 billion, above analyst forecasts of $3.34 billion. Visa also affirmed its financial outlook for 2015. Regarding the split, Visa said shareholders of record on Feb. 13 will receive a dividend of three additional shares for every share they own on March 18. The stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has run up 16% over the past three months through Thursday's close, while the Dow has gained 2.6%.