Visa and Mastercard shares closed at record highs on Monday, a milestone that had not been reached by either payment network in over a year, according to a report by MarketWatch.
Visa's stock rose 3.1% on the day to settle at $382.41. That topped the previous record closing price of $373.31, set on June 11, 2025, per Dow Jones Market Data cited by MarketWatch. Mastercard also closed at a record, though Visa drew particular attention given its role as a broad indicator of economic activity.
Investors and analysts have long watched Visa as a bellwether for consumer and business spending because of the sheer volume of transactions its network processes. Monday's closing price arrived even as shoppers have grown more selective about their spending, a tension the company's recent financial results help explain.
For the fiscal third quarter ending June 30, Visa reported net revenue of $11.6 billion, a 14% increase over the prior year. Payments volume rose 10% on a constant-dollar basis during the quarter, and total processed transactions reached 71.7 billion, also up 10% year over year.
"Consumer and business spending remains resilient, and our strategy continues to deliver strong performance across consumer payments, commercial and money movement solutions and value-added services," Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney said in a statement at the time.
Cross-border volume, which excludes transactions within Europe, rose 12% on a constant-dollar basis. Total cross-border volume, including intra-European transactions, increased 13%. GAAP net income for the quarter came in at $5.6 billion, or $2.97 per share, up 7% and 10% respectively from the prior year.
Visa returned $6.2 billion to shareholders during the quarter through share repurchases and dividends. The company bought back approximately 14.5 million shares of Class A common stock at an average cost of $330.71 per share, totaling $4.9 billion. As of June 30, Visa had $28.4 billion remaining in its authorized buyback program.
The record close for both Visa and Mastercard lands at a moment when questions about the durability of U.S. consumer spending continue to circulate. The payment network data, which reflects actual transaction volume rather than survey-based sentiment, provides one of the more direct reads on whether households are still opening their wallets.
