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Special Report Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksAuthored by Jordan Chussler. Publication Date: 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: The Biggest IPO Ever: Claim Your Stake Today
After posting an average annual gain of nearly 23% over the past two years, the financials sector has struggled in 2026. With a year-to-date loss of roughly 9%, the cohort ranks last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors. Zooming out, however, the companies that make up the sector remain core holdings for many buy-and-hold investors. Elon's Next Move Could Be His Greatest Yet He revived EVs, revolutionized space, and built the biggest satellite network. But this AI tech could go down in history as the crown jewel of Elon's career. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says, "What Elon and his team has achieved is singular. It's never been done before." Get the full story here. With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to find, two legacy firms in global payment processing and digital payments continue to produce margins and durability that qualify them as true "forever" stocks. Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make for Good Forever Stocks These firms typically enjoy higher profit margins than many other industries because of steady, high-volume demand, automation-friendly operations and technology-driven models that translate into low marginal costs per transaction. The industry is also positioned for robust growth. Industry analytics firm Grand View Research estimates the global payment processing solutions market, valued at nearly $48 billion in 2022, will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% through 2030, reaching about $140 billion. Grand View also forecasts the digital payment market, valued at more than $114 billion in 2024, will expand at a 21.4% CAGR through 2030 to exceed $361 billion. Despite that growth and attractive gross margins suggesting increasing competition, two of the largest players still operate in a near-duopoly, handling over 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside of China. With roots stretching back to the mid-1900s, these companies control much of the payments infrastructure, allowing them to set fees, limit competition and sustain very strong margins. Although companies such as Block (NYSE: XYZ), with Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with Venmo, aim to disrupt the space, few names fit the "forever stock" description 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 prioritized expanding tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce and developing services that reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and turn payments data into actionable insights. That strategy helped Mastercard deliver 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 over 16%. Much of that profitability stems from a tech-centric, low-cost model: Mastercard reported a 100% gross margin in 2025, reflecting minimal cost of goods sold and quarterly gross profit that essentially matched quarterly net revenue. For investors, this performance has translated into steady earnings growth. The last time Mastercard missed earnings was in Q3 2020 following the initial COVID-19 shock; since then it has recorded 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, the company reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a nearly 25% year-over-year increase. Analysts expect earnings per share to rise about 17% next year, from $15.91 to $18.61. Mastercard has also shifted from a traditional payment-network model toward an AI-driven, software-focused business that emphasizes enhanced security, simplified B2B transactions with virtual cards and agentic AI tools. On top of that, Mastercard pays a dividend. Though its yield is modest (around 0.69%), the company has raised its payout for 13 consecutive years, maintains a conservative payout ratio (about 21.07%) and has an annualized five-year dividend growth rate near 13.70%. Visa: Evolving and Adapting Since 1958 Visa (NYSE: V) operates a network model that lets partner banks and financial institutions issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on the underlying infrastructure, standards and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is integrating more fintech capabilities, emphasizing AI-driven solutions and exploring blockchain-based settlement to shift from card-centric transactions to more flexible, digital-first experiences. That approach helped Visa post record revenue and net income in 2025. Revenue reached about $40 billion—an 11% year-over-year increase—and net income approached $20 billion. Visa's consistency on the earnings front is notable: the company has not missed earnings in the past 10 years, meeting analyst expectations twice and beating EPS estimates 38 times during that span. Visa reported a gross profit margin near 83% in 2025, consistent with its 10-year average. Like Mastercard, Visa pays a modest dividend (around 0.87%). Its payout ratio is a healthy 25.14%, the annualized five-year dividend growth rate is about 14.48%, and the company has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. | 
