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Today's Bonus Story Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksWritten by Jordan Chussler. Date Posted: 3/14/2026. 
Key Takeaways - 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.
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 call the sector home have proven to be key components of buy-and-hold investors' portfolios. In 1934, the government executed a legal maneuver that transferred billions in wealth overnight—most Americans had no idea it was coming, a small group who saw it early walked away wealthy, and everyone else paid for it. Trump has the same legal authority today, advisors close to the administration believe he's considering using it, and if he does, the transfer happens fast with the window to be on the right side of it already closing. Get the free report on how to position yourself now With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to identify, two legacy companies operating in global payment processing and digital payments continue to produce profit margins that qualify them as classic "forever" stocks. Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make for Good Forever Stocks These companies have historically enjoyed higher profit margins than many other industries, thanks to high-volume demand, automation, and technology-driven business models that produce 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 21.4% CAGR through 2030, reaching more than $361 billion. While that degree of growth and attractive gross margins might suggest the space is crowded, two of the biggest names continue to operate in a near-duopoly, controlling over 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside of China. With roots dating back to the mid-1900s, these firms control much of the payments infrastructure, allowing them to influence fees, limit competition and preserve strong margins. Despite challengers such as Block, with its peer-to-peer payment service Cash App, and PayPal, with its popular platform Venmo, when it comes to forever stocks none fit the bill better than the following two. Mastercard: The $450 Billion Market Cap Company Focusing on Tech Integration Since Michael Miebach took the reins at Mastercard (NYSE: MA) in 2021, management has focused on expanding tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce and developing services that help clients reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and extract insights from payments data. Those efforts helped Mastercard deliver record revenue and net income in 2025. Revenue of nearly $33 billion represented a year-over-year (YOY) increase of more than 16%, while net income of nearly $15 billion also rose more than 16% YOY. That profitability was driven largely by a reported 100% gross margin throughout 2025, enabled by tech integrations and a minimal cost of goods sold, which resulted in quarterly gross profit roughly matching quarterly net revenue. For investors, that has translated into consistent earnings performance. The last time Mastercard missed earnings was Q3 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the company has recorded 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, the company reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a nearly 25% YOY increase. Mastercard's earnings are expected to grow about 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. At the same time, Mastercard has been embracing broader fintech trends. It has shifted from a traditional payment network to an AI-driven, software-focused enterprise emphasizing enhanced security, simplified B2B transactions with virtual cards and agentic AI tools. Icing the cake, Mastercard pays a dividend that, while not known for a high 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 stands at 13.70%. Visa: Evolving and Adapting Since 1958 Visa (NYSE: V) operates a network-based model that enables partnering banks and other financial institutions to issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on infrastructure, standards and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is rapidly integrating fintech, focusing on AI-driven solutions and blockchain-based settlement, with the goal of transitioning from traditional card-based transactions to more flexible, digital-first experiences by 2026. That strategy helped Visa report record revenue and net income in 2025, with revenue of $40 billion—an 11% YOY increase—and net income nearing $20 billion. While Mastercard's run of earnings beats is notable, Visa has not missed on earnings in the past 10 years. Over that stretch the company has met analyst expectations twice and beaten EPS estimates 38 times. Much of Visa's resilience stems from its strong profitability: the company posted nearly an 83% gross profit margin in 2025, consistent with its 10-year average. Like its counterpart, Visa also pays a modest dividend, currently yielding 0.87%. Its dividend payout ratio is a healthy 25.14%, and the annualized five-year dividend growth rate is 14.48%. The company has increased its payout for 17 consecutive years.
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