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Bonus Article from MarketBeat.com Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksWritten 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: Elon Musk's $1 Quadrillion AI IPO
After posting average annual gains of nearly 23% over the past two years, the financials sector has struggled in 2026. With a year-to-date loss of about 9%, the group ranks last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors. Zooming out, however, many companies in the sector remain core holdings for buy-and-hold investors. Louis Navellier put the paid version of ChatGPT head-to-head against the FREE version of Elon's Grok, and it wasn't even close—Grok produced dozens of picture-perfect results while ChatGPT struggled to conjure even one. In just 19 days, Elon built a system that Oracle executives said was impossible by connecting 200,000 GPUs in a 114-acre facility, creating what Nvidia's CEO calls superhuman AI, and one tiny company's technology 49 times smaller than Tesla was central to the entire feat. Watch the live demo and get the ticker now With high-quality growth stocks harder to find, two legacy companies in global payment processing and digital payments continue to deliver profit margins that qualify them as true "forever stocks." Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make Good Forever Stocks These businesses have historically enjoyed higher profit margins than many other industries because of high-volume demand, extensive automation and technology-driven models that translate into low marginal costs per transaction. The industry also appears poised for strong 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 almost $140 billion. Grand View also forecasts the digital payment market, valued at over $114 billion in 2024, will expand at a 21.4% CAGR through 2030 to more than $361 billion. Despite that growth and attractive margins, two of the largest names effectively operate a duopoly, handling more than 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside China. With roots stretching back to the mid-1900s, these firms control critical payments infrastructure, allowing them to set fees, limit competition and preserve strong margins. While companies such as Block (NYSE: SQ) with Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) with Venmo, aim to disrupt payments, none fit the "forever stock" profile better than the two below. Mastercard: The $450 Billion Company Focused 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 reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and unlock insights from payments data. 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%, and net income of nearly $15 billion also rose by more than 16% year over year. Profitability was aided by a reported 100% gross margin throughout 2025, enabled by tech integrations and a negligible cost of goods sold, which left quarterly gross profit nearly identical to quarterly net revenue. For investors, that has translated into consistent earnings performance. The last time Mastercard missed an earnings estimate was Q3 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the company has delivered 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, Mastercard reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a nearly 25% year-over-year increase for the quarter. Analysts expect earnings to grow about 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. Meanwhile, Mastercard has been shifting from a traditional payments network toward an AI-driven, software-focused enterprise, prioritizing enhanced security, simplified B2B transactions with virtual cards, and agentic AI tools. Mastercard pays a dividend that, while modest (currently about 0.69%), has increased for 13 consecutive years. The company maintains a sustainable payout ratio of roughly 21% and an annualized five-year dividend growth rate near 13.7%. Visa: Evolving and Adapting Since 1958 Visa (NYSE: V) operates a network-based model in which partner banks issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on infrastructure, standards and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is integrating fintech solutions, emphasizing AI-driven tools and blockchain-based settlement, aiming to move beyond card-centric transactions toward more flexible, digital-first experiences. That strategy helped Visa post record revenue and net income in 2025: revenue totaled about $40 billion (an 11% year-over-year increase) and net income approached $20 billion. Visa has been remarkably consistent on earnings: it hasn't missed an estimate in the past 10 years, matching expectations twice and beating EPS forecasts 38 times during that span. Much of Visa's resilience comes from its high margins — the company reported nearly an 83% gross profit margin in 2025, consistent with its 10-year average. Visa also pays a modest dividend (currently around 0.87%). Its payout ratio is about 25% and the annualized five-year dividend growth rate is roughly 14.5%. The company has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. | 
