3. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 163
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a well-known name in the global payment technology industry, operating extensively in both the United States and abroad. When a caller inquired about increasing their position in the stock, Cramer highlighted that its current valuation at 27 times earnings makes it prudent to wait for a better buying opportunity. He affirmed that the stock is a solid long-term investment and said:
“… Look, it sells at 27 times earnings. I’m waiting for Visa to come down at a discount. You don’t have that. Right now, I have to tell you, Mastercard is actually doing a little better than Visa. But no, no need to add a position on that. That’s not the right basis. Just keep looking. It’s a great long-term stock and I think it always will be as long as this is well run as it is now.”
Visa (NYSE:V) holds a significant portion of the U.S. credit card market. The market dominance is seen in the vast scale of operations, with more than 4 billion active credit and debit cards linked to its network. Over the past year, the company processed an astounding payment volume exceeding $3 trillion, evidence of its critical role in the financial ecosystem.
On September 26, Visa (NYSE:V) announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Featurespace, a company specializing in real-time AI solutions aimed at preventing payment fraud and mitigating financial crime risks.
The acquisition is set to advance its existing suite of fraud detection and risk-scoring tools that serve clients globally. By integrating Featurespace’s expertise, the company wishes to increase its capability to address fraud in real-time, and eventually provide added protection to the payments ecosystem through innovative AI-driven approaches.
The company’s commitment to security and technology investment is evident, with billions of dollars allocated over the past five years to improve its infrastructure against fraud and network security. The transaction, expected to finalize in fiscal year 2025, is expected to offer considerable advantages to financial institutions, consumers, and the broader payments industry.
Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) 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…” (Click here to read the full text)
