Goldman Sachs’ Best Hedge Fund Stock Picks: Top 20 Stocks

14. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors in Q2 2024: 163

GS’ Number Of Funds: 17

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of the biggest payment processors in the world, and along with its smaller rival Mastercard, it commands the global market. This offers the firm key economies of scale, particularly through its partnerships with banks that are eventually responsible for issuing consumers credit and debit cards that operate on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s service. Additionally, it also means that as opposed to growth, customer retention and cost control are the key facets driving the firm’s hypothesis. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has to continually innovate its products and services to ensure that it does not lose out to upstarts or to Mastercard. 2024 is an important year for both firms, as they are reaching a historic settlement with merchants related to the thorny issue of card fees. This deal is currently valued at $30 billion, and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s shares could see turbulence if it is delayed further or if the amount goes up. Additionally, another setback could be retailers and merchants choosing to use cheaper and less secure payment platforms, particularly because of the 30 day fraud liability protection that Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and MA’s customers have.

Aoris Management mentioned Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:

“Visa operates the world’s largest payments network, which facilitates the movement of money between merchants, financial institutions, consumers, businesses, and governments.

The company is best known for enabling consumers to make debit and credit card payments. In the year to September 2023, 4.3 billion Visa cardholders made 213 billion transactions on its network, to a total value of US$12.1 trillion.

Compared to cash and cheques, which are still widely used around the world, Visa’s network is a more convenient, secure, and ubiquitous way for consumers to pay. Visa has invested to reduce friction and fraud in the payments experience, to the benefit of both merchants and consumers.”