Consumers might have largely remained home in Visa's (V -0.85%) most recent quarter, but that didn't damage the company's results much.
For Visa's Q2 of fiscal 2021, published after market hours, revenue was $5.7 billion, down from the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income fell by the same percentage to hit $3.0 billion, or $1.38 per share. On the other hand -- and quite encouragingly -- total payments volume rose by 5% year over year.
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Both headline figures exceeded analyst estimates. On average, prognosticators tracking Visa were anticipating only $5.55 billion in revenue, and an adjusted net profit of $1.27 per share.
Those line items would have grown, and at decent rates, if it weren't for total cross-border payment volume, always an important figure for the company. That figure fell 11% in Q2, which is hardly surprising given the steep drop-off of international travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
Like big companies in many other industries, Visa is predicting much better times ahead. It wrote in its earnings release that "we believe we are starting to see the beginning of the end, and the recovery is well under way in a number of key markets around the world."
Visa said its credit and card present transactions both grew during the quarter, while debit card and eCommerce activity "stayed at very healthy levels."
The company declined to provide guidance for the current quarter or fiscal year, citing continued uncertainty in the global economy as it emerges from the pandemic.
In after-hours trading late on Tuesday, Visa shares were up by nearly 1.1%; during the normal trading day, they had essentially traded sideways.
