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Exclusive Story from MarketBeat.com Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksBy Jordan Chussler. 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: The Biggest IPO Ever: Claim Your Stake Today
After averaging nearly 23% annual gains over the past two years, 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 make up the sector have proven to be core holdings for buy-and-hold investors. The Fed is counting on the fact that ordinary Americans won't read a 93-page document until it's too late. I've read it and that's why I'm begging you to act while you still can. Get the 4 "Fed-proof" steps right now. With high-quality growth stocks becoming harder to find, two legacy firms in global payment processing and digital payments continue to deliver profit margins and durability that qualify them as classic "forever" stocks. Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make for Good Forever Stocks These companies typically enjoy higher profit margins than many other industries because of their high-volume demand, automation-friendly operations, and technology-driven models that yield very low marginal costs per transaction. The industry is also poised for strong growth. According to 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. 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 attracting competitors, two of the biggest names still operate in a near-duopoly, handling over 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside China. With roots dating back to the mid-1900s, these firms control much of the payments infrastructure, enabling them to set fees, limit competition, and sustain strong margins. Although challengers such as Block (NYSE: XYZ), with its Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with Venmo, seek 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 emphasized expanding tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce, and developing services that reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and turn payments data into business insights. Mastercard reported 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 in 2025—enabled by tech integrations and minimal cost of goods sold—so quarterly gross profit closely matched net revenue. For investors, this has translated into consistent upside on earnings. Mastercard's last quarterly earnings miss was in Q3 2020 following 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% YOY increase. Analysts expect earnings to grow about 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. Mastercard has been evolving from a traditional payment network into an AI-driven, software-focused company that emphasizes enhanced security, simplified B2B payments with virtual cards, and agentic AI tools to improve processes. Mastercard also pays a modest dividend (current yield 0.69%) that has risen for 13 consecutive years. The firm's dividend payout ratio is about 21.07%, and its 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 financial institutions issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on infrastructure, standards and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is integrating fintech capabilities—investing in AI-driven solutions and exploring blockchain-based settlement—with the aim of shifting from card-centric transactions to more flexible, digital-first experiences by 2026. Visa also reported record revenue and net income in 2025: revenue reached about $40 billion (an 11% YOY increase) and net income was nearly $20 billion. Visa's consistency on earnings is notable: it hasn't missed earnings once in the past 10 years. Over that span the company met analyst expectations twice and beat EPS estimates 38 times. Much of that stability ties back to healthy margins—Visa reported a near 83% gross profit margin in 2025, broadly in line with its 10-year average. Visa pays a modest dividend (current yield 0.87%), has a dividend payout ratio of about 25.14% and an annualized five-year dividend growth rate of 14.48%. The company has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Taken together, Mastercard and Visa's scale, strong margins and ongoing tech investments explain why many investors view them as long-term, "forever" holdings in the payments space.
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