Credit card giant Visa (V) has reported a strong first-quarter earnings beat as spending on international travel rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The digital payments company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $2.18 U.S. compared to $2.01 U.S. that was expected by analysts who cover the company.
In terms of revenue, Visa reported $7.94 billion U.S. for Q1, which was more than the $7.70 billion U.S. forecast by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Visa said that its Q1 outperformance was mostly due to an acceleration of global travel. Specifically, cross-border volumes on its credit cards rose 24%.
Cross-border spending on Visa’s credit cards is a key metric because such transactions are more lucrative than domestic payments.
Visa said it is benefitting as consumers around the world travel more after two years of pandemic lockdowns. Visa added that it is seeing a big rise in travel spending across Asia.
Overall volume on the firm’s credit cards rose 9% to $3.6 trillion U.S. during Q1, which was in line with analysts’ forecasts.
Visa’s stock has risen 14% in the last 12 months to $229.59 U.S. per share.
