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Bonus News from MarketBeat Media Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksAuthor: Jordan Chussler. First Published: 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 already made me a "wealthy man"
After averaging nearly 23% annual gains over the past two years, the financials sector has struggled so far this year. With a year-to-date loss of roughly 9%, the group ranks last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors. Zooming out, though, many companies in the sector remain core holdings for buy-and-hold investors. There are 90 paper gold claims for every real ounce in COMEX vaults. Ninety promises, one ounce of metal. It's like musical chairs with 90 players and one chair. COMEX gold inventory dropped 25 percent last year alone as gold flows East to Shanghai, Mumbai, and Moscow. On March 31st, contract holders can demand delivery. When similar situations arose in the past, markets closed and rules changed. Paper holders got crushed while mining stock holders made fortunes. One stock sits at the center of this crisis. Get the full story on this opportunity now. With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to find, two legacy firms operating in global payment processing and digital payments continue to deliver profit margins and business characteristics that qualify them as true 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, driven by high-volume demand, automation, and technology-driven business models that translate into low marginal costs per transaction. The industry is also poised for strong expansion. According to Grand View Research, the global payment processing solutions market, valued at nearly $48 billion in 2022, is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% through 2030, reaching nearly $140 billion. Grand View also estimates the digital payment market, valued at more than $114 billion in 2024, will expand at a 21.4% CAGR to top $361 billion by 2030. Despite that growth and attractive gross margins, the space remains concentrated: two of the largest players effectively operate a de facto duopoly, handling over 90% of credit-card and digital payments processed outside China. With roots dating back to the mid-1900s, these companies control much of the payment infrastructure, which helps them set fees, limit competition and sustain strong margins. While competitors such as Block (NYSE: XYZ), with Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with Venmo, aim to disrupt the space, when it comes to long-term, dependable businesses, 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 building services that help clients reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and leverage payments data for insights. Those efforts helped Mastercard post 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 almost $15 billion rose by a similar amount. Much of that profitability reflects Mastercard's very low cost of goods sold: the company reported a 100% gross margin in 2025, with quarterly gross profit closely matching quarterly net revenue due to tech-heavy operations and minimal direct costs. For investors, that has translated into consistently strong earnings. 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, Mastercard reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a nearly 25% year-over-year increase. Analysts expect earnings to grow about 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. At the same time, Mastercard has been shifting from a traditional payment network toward an AI-driven, software-focused enterprise that emphasizes enhanced security, simplified B2B transactions with virtual cards and agentic AI tools. Adding to the appeal, Mastercard pays a dividend. While the yield is modest (currently 0.69%), the company has increased its payout for 13 consecutive years. Its dividend payout ratio is a sustainable 21.07%, and the 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 into its offerings, focusing on AI-driven solutions and blockchain-based settlement, with the stated goal of moving from 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% year-over-year increase—and net income of nearly $20 billion. Visa's consistency on the earnings front is notable: it has not missed earnings in the past 10 years, meeting expectations twice and beating EPS estimates 38 times during that stretch. Much of Visa's performance stems from its high gross profit margin, which was about 83% in 2025 and is consistent with its 10-year average. Like Mastercard, Visa 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%. Visa has raised its payout for 17 consecutive years. | 
