Visa. They move money around. A lot of it. Sixteen-point-seven trillion dollars’ worth last year, give or take. It’s a number that means…something. Probably. So it goes.
They call it a high-quality business. Fine. But it only went up twelve percent last year. The market, as usual, did better. People are always looking for a stock that will set them up for life. As if such a thing exists. A fool’s errand, really.
Cashless is Just Another Way to Spend
The economy grows. People buy things. Now they mostly swipe plastic or wave their phones. Visa likes this. It’s simple. More transactions mean more fees. It’s not exactly rocket science. They’ve been growing revenue at a respectable clip – twelve-point-nine percent a year. Analysts predict more of the same. They always do.
The U.S. is their biggest market. But they’re looking at Asia, Africa, Latin America. More places to collect their little slice. They also sell analytics and cybersecurity. Because everything needs analytics and cybersecurity now. It’s the modern equivalent of selling snake oil, but with more data.
Profit Margins and the Meaning of Life
Operating a tollbooth is remarkably lucrative. Once the highway is built, all you do is sit there and collect. Fifty percent net profit margin. It’s obscene, really. But we live in a world where obscene is often rewarded. So it goes.
They have a “wide economic moat,” they say. A fancy way of saying it’s hard for anyone to compete. Four-point-nine billion cards. One-hundred-seventy-five million merchants. A network effect. It’s impressive, I suppose. But it doesn’t solve the fundamental problem of existence.
Fintech, stablecoins, all the newfangled stuff. They’re not worried. Visa will just integrate with it. Take a cut. It’s the circle of life, corporate edition. These innovations might even help Visa. Everything eventually feeds the machine.
Don’t Dream of Riches
People want a stock that will turn twenty-five dollars into two thousand five hundred dollars in twenty-five years. Twenty percent annual return. A lovely fantasy. But it rarely happens. And even if it did, what would you do with all that money? It wouldn’t buy you happiness, I assure you.
Visa is a mature company. It’s not going to suddenly become a rocket ship. The stock isn’t cheap. Price-to-earnings ratio of thirty-two-point-two. No room for multiple expansion. Just steady, predictable growth. Which is…fine. If you’re into that sort of thing.
Looking for that one magical stock is a fool’s game. Diversification is the sensible approach. Spread your risk around. Accept that you’re not going to get rich overnight. It’s a little sad, really. But that’s life. So it goes.
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2026-01-16 13:22