Is Visa Stock Underperforming the Nasdaq?

With a market cap of $587.7 billion, Visa Inc. (V) is a global payments technology company that facilitates digital transactions across more than 200 countries and territories through its secure processing network, VisaNet. The company offers a broad portfolio of products and services, including credit, debit, prepaid solutions, digital payment innovations, risk management, and data analytics. 

Companies worth more than $200 billion are generally labeled as “mega-cap” stocks and Visa fits this criterion perfectly. Serving financial institutions, merchants, governments, and consumers, Visa also strengthens its brand through partnerships and sponsorships with organizations such as the Olympic Games, FIFA, and the NFL.

The San Francisco, California-based company stock has dipped 13.5% from its 52-week high of $375.51. Shares of Visa have risen 1.5% over the past three months, lagging behind the Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 18.8% increase over the same time frame.

Visa stock is down 7.4% on a YTD basis, underperforming NASX’s 15.8% gain. In the longer term, shares of the global payments processor have decreased 9.7% over the past 52 weeks, compared to NASX’s 40.9% return over the same time frame.

The stock has been trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since early January. However, it has moved above its 50-day moving average since late April.

Shares of Visa climbed 8.3% following its Q2 2026 results on Apr. 28 after the company delivered stronger-than-expected adjusted EPS rising to $3.31 and net revenue increasing to $11.2 billion. Investors were encouraged by resilient consumer spending trends and strong transaction growth, as payments volume increased 9%, cross-border volume rose 12%, processed transactions advanced 9%, and key revenue streams including data processing revenue climbed 18% year-over-year to $5.54 billion. 

The rally was further fueled by Visa announcing a new $20 billion multiyear share repurchase program and raising its fiscal 2026 outlook to low-teens EPS growth and net revenue growth.

In comparison, rival Mastercard Incorporated (MA) has lagged behind Visa stock. Shares of Mastercard have declined 13.5 on a YTD basis and 14.3% over the past 52 weeks. 

While Visa stock has underperformed relative to the Nasdaq over the past year, analysts remain bullish about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from 37 analysts' coverage, and the mean price target of $399.88 is a premium of 23.1% to current levels.