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Further Reading from MarketBeat Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksAuthor: 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 call the sector home have proven to be key components of long-term investors' portfolios. Why is the White House suddenly building a new "Fort Knox?" Hidden inside this fortress lies a critical new resource Moody's calls "the new oil." Demand is doubling every 6 months, and Fox News is calling it the "new arms race." On April 20, a major event could ignite a handful of under-the-radar stocks, setting off what could be biggest commodity boom in history. Click here for all the details. With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to identify, two legacy companies operating in the global payment processing and digital payment markets continue to produce profit margins that qualify them as 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 due to high-volume demand, ease of automation, and technology-driven business models that translate into 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 undergo 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 undergo a CAGR of 21.4% through 2030, reaching more than $361 billion. While that degree of growth coupled with attractive gross margins could suggest the space is crowded, two of the biggest names in the industry continue to operate in a veritable duopoly, controlling over 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside of China. With roots dating back to the mid-1900s, these companies control the digital payment and payment processing infrastructure, allowing them to influence fees, limit competition, and maintain strikingly strong margins. Despite companies including Block, with its peer-to-peer payment service Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with its popular platform Venmo, looking to serve as disruptors, 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 its tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce, and developing services that help clients reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and leverage payments data for insights. In doing so, Mastercard achieved 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 was also good for a more than 16% YOY increase. That profitability was driven largely by a reported 100% gross margin throughout 2025—made possible by tech integrations and minimal cost of goods sold—so 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 on earnings was Q3 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the company has strung together 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, the company reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, marking a nearly 25% YOY increase over the same quarter a year prior. Analysts expect earnings to grow nearly 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. At the same time, Mastercard 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. Additionally, Mastercard pays a dividend that, while not large (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) features 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, the company 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 totaling nearly $20 billion. While Mastercard's streak of earnings beats is impressive, Visa has not missed earnings in the past 10 years. During that stretch, the company met analyst expectations twice and beat EPS expectations 38 times. Much of that consistency can be attributed to Visa's nearly 83% gross profit margin in 2025, which is in line with its 10-year average. Like its counterpart, Visa also pays a modest dividend that currently yields 0.87%. Its dividend payout ratio is a healthy 25.14% and the annualized five-year dividend growth rate stands at 14.48%. The company has increased its payout for 17 consecutive years. | 
