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Market Data Table

Breakfast News: Visa's Quiet Q3 Hides a Big AI Bet

July 29, 2026

Tuesday's Markets
S&P 500 7,429 (+0.21%)
Nasdaq 24,877 (-0.22%)
Dow 52,747 (+1.03%)
Bitcoin $63,891 (-1.52%)

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1) SpaceX Must Define Itself on First Earnings Call

Lou Whiteman, Team Hidden Gems

The Hidden Gems investing philosophy involves looking for well-run businesses and staying with them through hard stretches, as long as our conviction holds.

More than seven weeks into SpaceX's (NASDAQ:SPCX) journey as a public company, and I still don't know what exactly SpaceX is and what it is trying to accomplish.

The S1 registration statement was intentionally vague, reaching a total addressable market almost equal to U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Spoiler alert: That's not really a good description of the business that SpaceX is actually pursuing.

There's a lot of short-term noise surrounding an IPO. We were focused on the index inclusion and are now focused on the shares that will be free to trade after earnings. If Elon Musk uses the earnings report to state, clearly without platitudes, (1.) this is who we are, (2.) this is what we want to do, and (3.) this is how we are going to do it, I think that will do more to influence the stock movement in the coming months than any lockup or index talk.

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Chart showing Visa's operating income for the past five years, which is currently at $6.9 billion.

2) Can AI Make Visa Even More Dominant?

Visa (NYSE:V) reported a 14.4% year-over-year (YOY) rise in Q3 revenue after yesterday's close, as its number of processed transactions reached 71.7 billion on the back of an international surge in digital activity. The stock was largely unchanged in pre-market trading.

$6.2 billion returned to shareholders: Visa showed what it means to be the world's largest payment network provider when it revealed the repurchase of $4.9 billion of its own shares in the period -- on top of a dividend of $0.67 per share, a nice bonus for investors holding Visa with the aim of beating the market over the long term.
"We are excited to be partnering with OpenAI to enable secure Visa payments within agentic commerce": CEO Ryan McInerney pointed to artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver of workforce reshaping, while the company is cutting around 2,600 jobs. Layoffs can lift a stock over time by cutting costs and boosting margins, but only when they reflect real efficiency gains rather than disguised weakness or the erosion of future capability.

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3) The Pick of Tuesday's After-Hours Earnings From Team Rule Breakers Recs

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) reported a 4% revenue rise to $6.68 billion, as the waste hauler saw 35% growth in non-GAAP free cash flow over the same quarter last year. It shows the focus on pricing over volumes is paying off, as management aims for a full-year EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin of 31% and free cash flow between $3.75 billion and $3.85 billion. The stock dipped a little over 1% pre-market as investors responded to lower volumes.
Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) beat revenue expectations with a 104% rise YOY, reaching $1.33 billion compared to the $1.22 billion consensus. Record demand for memory and semiconductor testing equipment lay behind the surge, though investors need to watch the recent AI pullback. CEO Greg Smith is looking for a rapid increase in wafer fab equipment investment to drive future growth. The stock popped 8% in early trading.
NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) dipped around 1.5% this morning, despite a 19% YOY rise in revenue to $3.50 billion, as investors are getting nervous over the sustainability of AI and data center growth. CEO Rafael Sotomayor pointed to physical AI and software-defined vehicles as new growth drivers.

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4) Pre-Market Results From Companies Recommended by Both Team HG & RB

Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR) slumped over 15% before market open after the freelance marketplace missed Wall Street expectations, with Q2 revenue down 10% YOY, and cut its full-year guidance. CEO Micha Kaufman spoke of a "market that is changing faster than expected, driven by rapid AI adoption," as AI is increasingly replacing freelancers for less complex tasks.
Lemonade (NYSE:LMND) posted a 79% rise in Q2 revenue over the previous year, ahead of the 77% guided at Q1 time. In force premium grew 32.4% to $1.43 billion, marking the 11th consecutive quarter of acceleration, and management expects to reach positive adjusted EBITDA by Q4. The stock slumped over 6% in response over profitability fears and news that CFO Tim Bixby is to be replaced by Senior Vice President of Finance Nick Stead.
Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) jumped close to 10% after reporting record revenue of $2.02 billion in Q2, up 11% YOY, as operating income climbed 30% to $616 million for another record. Management lifted full-year revenue guidance to approximately $8.05 billion after returning $245 million via dividends and share repurchases.

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5) Today's Take: What Only a Bear Market Can Teach

Bear markets are interesting. While they're difficult to go through at the time, they can be extremely rewarding if you have a Foolish mindset. I remember going through the Great Financial Crisis several years back. I was much younger and still learning what kind of investor I was. But thankfully I was a member of The Motley Fool which helped keep my head on straight. Many good businesses were getting killed because everything was getting killed. But understanding the context of what was going on as well as the history of bear markets helped me stay confident in not only staying invested, but also not stopping. Like Shelby Davis said, "You make most of your money in a bear market; you just don't realize it at the time." -- Jason Moser, Team Rule Breakers

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6) Your Take

Today we're asking whether you'd rather start a long-term position in Meta (NASDAQ:META) or Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) -- both reporting after the closing bell -- and why?

Debate with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!

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