Visa CEO on economic slowdown, new stablecoin deal, and AI agents that shop for you

Yahoo

30-04-2025

The Trump trade war hasn't thrust the US economy into a recession, Visa (V) CEO Ryan McInerney says.
"We saw strong, broad-based consumer spending. We definitely saw some deceleration in certain parts of the economy, but also strong spending growth in other parts of the economy," McInerney told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday (video above).
"What we can add is a view in a broad-based way across a significant portion of Americans and almost all the categories in which they spend. And, you know, for the last three months or so, including the first three or four weeks of April, we've seen strong spending growth," he added.
McInerney has the numbers to back up his observation.
Visa's first quarter earnings came in above analyst estimates after the close on Tuesday.
First quarter sales rose 9% from the prior year to $9.6 billion, beating analyst forecasts for $9.56 billion. Earnings came in at $2.76 a share, ahead of forecasts for $2.68. Cross-border payments volume increased 13% from the prior year.
Total US payment volume has increased 8% in April, which is a 100 basis point acceleration from March. Total cross-border volume increased 15% in April, which is roughly a 400 basis point improvement from March.
"So there's no question that there's stronger spending growth at the most affluent segments," McInerney noted.
Visa announced a new $30 billion multiyear share repurchase program.
Shares fell slightly in today's session as investors digest a 0.3% first quarter contraction in US GDP.
The Trump administration's trade war is beginning to take a bite out of US consumer spending as households deal with increased economic uncertainty and rising prices.
"If you look at the US business, the weakness in volume in Q1 was concentrated in what we call future consumption packaging, which is much more predominant in supermarkets or in kind of independent trade outlets, rather than either convenience or the kind of away-from-home quick-serve restaurants and all the away from home channels," Coca-Cola (KO) chairman and CEO James Quincey told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday.
Procter & Gamble (PG) chairman and CEO Jon Moeller said households are cutting back on the number of loads of laundry they do each week to save money.
The macroeconomic uncertainty isn't stopping Visa from pressing forward with product innovation, however.
The company said today it would launch stablecoin-linked Visa cards in partnership with Stripe-owned Bridge.
It also took the wraps off Visa Intelligent Commerce, which will allow consumers to shop using AI-powered agents. A customer will be able to easily set spending limits and conditions for clear guidelines for agent-related transactions. The transactions will be tokenized in order to ensure security.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email [e-mail].