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More Reading from MarketBeat Media Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksWritten by Jordan Chussler. Date Posted: 3/14/2026. 
Key Points - The financials sector has lagged the S&P 500 this year, but two payment processing giants continue to deliver the kind of margins and earnings consistency that define long-term holdings.
- Despite recent sector-wide struggles, Visa and Mastercard function as a veritable duopoly, controlling over 90% of payments outside of China.
- Visa hasn't missed on earnings in 10 years, while Mastercard has secured 21 consecutive quarterly beats.
- Special Report: Elon's "Hidden" Company
After finishing the past two years with an average annual gain of nearly 23%, the financials sector has struggled this year. With a year-to-date loss of around 9%, the cohort ranks last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors. But zooming out, the companies that make up the sector have proven to be core holdings for buy-and-hold investors. A humanoid robot called Figure 03 escorted First Lady Melania Trump at a White House tech summit attended by CEOs and representatives from 45 countries. Alpha School, a private institution replacing teachers with AI, is now expanding to 35 cities with Department of Education support - and its students are scoring in the top 0.1% nationally. Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, and Senator Mark Warner are all warning about mass job displacement. One historian is predicting a permanent underclass as automation accelerates. History shows these shifts also create rare wealth-building opportunities for investors who act early. See the investment blueprint for navigating the AI displacement now With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to find, two legacy companies operating in the global payment processing and digital payments markets continue to deliver profit margins that qualify them as true "forever" stocks. Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make for Good Forever Stocks These companies typically enjoy higher profit margins than many other industries because of high-volume demand, extensive automation, and technology-driven business models that translate into very low marginal costs per transaction. The industry is also poised for strong growth. According to industry analytics firm Grand View Research, the global payment processing solutions market, valued at nearly $48 billion in 2022, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% through 2030, reaching nearly $140 billion by the start of the next decade. Grand View also forecasts that the digital payment market, valued at more than $114 billion in 2024, will expand at a CAGR of 21.4% through 2030, reaching more than $361 billion. While that level of growth and attractive gross margins might suggest the space is crowded, two of the biggest names in the industry still operate in a near-duopoly, controlling more than 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside China. With roots dating back to the mid-1900s, these companies control much of the payments infrastructure, allowing them to influence fees, limit competition, and sustain very strong margins. Although firms such as Block (NYSE: XYZ), with Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with Venmo, aim to disrupt the space, when it comes to true forever stocks, none fit the bill better than the two below. Mastercard: The $450 Billion Market Cap Company Focusing on Tech Integration Since Michael Miebach became CEO of Mastercard (NYSE: MA) in 2021, management has emphasized expanding tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce, and developing services that help clients reduce fraud, streamline payment flows, and leverage payments data for insights. Those efforts helped Mastercard achieve record revenue and net income in 2025. Revenue of nearly $33 billion represented a year-over-year increase of more than 16%, while net income of nearly $15 billion also rose by more than 16% year over year. That profitability was driven in large part by a 100% gross margin throughout 2025, enabled by tech integrations and a minimal cost of goods sold, which meant the company's quarterly gross profit closely matched its quarterly net revenue. For investors, that has translated into consistent earnings performance. The last time Mastercard missed an earnings estimate was in Q3 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the company has recorded 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, Mastercard reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a roughly 25% year-over-year increase. Analysts expect Mastercard's earnings to grow nearly 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. At the same time, the company has been shifting from a traditional payments network to an AI-driven, software-focused enterprise that emphasizes enhanced security, simpler B2B transactions with virtual cards, and agentic AI tools. Additionally, Mastercard pays a dividend that—while modest in yield (currently 0.69%)—has increased for 13 consecutive years. The firm maintains a sustainable dividend payout ratio of 21.07%, and its annualized five-year dividend growth rate is 13.70%. Visa: Evolving and Adapting Since 1958 Visa (NYSE: V) operates a network-based model that lets partner banks and other financial institutions issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on infrastructure, standards, and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is rapidly integrating fintech capabilities, concentrating on AI-driven solutions and blockchain-based settlement. The company aims to move beyond traditional card-based transactions toward more flexible, digital-first experiences by 2026. That strategy helped Visa report record revenue and net income in 2025, with revenue reaching $40 billion—an 11% year-over-year increase—and net income approaching $20 billion. Visa's consistency on earnings is notable: over the past decade the company has met analyst expectations twice and beaten EPS estimates 38 times, without a single miss in that span. Much of Visa's performance can be attributed to its strong margins: the company reported nearly an 83% gross profit margin in 2025, in line with its 10-year average. Like its counterpart, Visa pays a modest dividend that currently yields 0.87%. Its dividend payout ratio is a healthy 25.14%, with an annualized five-year dividend growth rate of 14.48%, and the company has increased its payout for 17 consecutive years. | 
