Rothschild Redburn upgraded Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) from Neutral to Buy on Wednesday, and simultaneously increased its 12-month price target to $385 from $327. Visa was trading at $325.26 at the time of the report and carries an approximate market capitalization of $622 billion. InvestingPro rates the company with an overall financial health score of "GOOD."
The new target of $385 sits below the Street high of $450 but is well above the current consensus. Rothschild Redburn’s revision rests on a more favorable outlook for network yields and the expansion of value-added services - referred to as VAS - that the firm expects to arise in a so-called "agentic commerce world." The firm said it has raised its EPS estimates for 2028 by roughly 10% to reflect those dynamics.
In its analysis, Rothschild Redburn argues that a more fragmented e-commerce landscape could shift pricing power away from very large merchants and back toward card networks. That change would, in the firm’s view, benefit networks like Visa by enabling stronger yields. At the same time, the firm highlighted that heightened risk associated with agentic commerce would increase demand for cybersecurity and risk-management products, further supporting Visa’s VAS revenue opportunities.
Rothschild Redburn did note rising regulatory pressures and adjusted its valuation assumptions accordingly - raising its weighted average cost of capital from 8% to 8.5%. Despite that increase, the firm concluded that near-term regulatory headwinds are likely to be outweighed by the longer-term growth potential tied to agentic commerce.
On a simple basis, the firm’s $385 target implies roughly 18% upside from the then-current share price, according to Rothschild Redburn’s calculations.
Other broker-dealer activity and strategic developments were also cited alongside Rothschild Redburn’s upgrade. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and set a $400 price target, emphasizing Visa’s entrenched market position and its role as a transaction facilitator. UBS reiterated a Buy rating with a $425 target and flagged possible acceleration in net revenue growth by fiscal year 2026.
Separately, reports indicate Apple is in discussions with Visa and Mastercard about launching a digital payments service in India, with a phased rollout targeted for 2026 pending regulatory and commercial approvals. Morgan Stanley has also singled out Visa as one of several payments stocks likely to benefit from improved fraud detection tools and growing cross-border e-commerce activity by 2026.
Taken together, these analyst actions and strategic discussions reflect continued confidence among multiple firms in Visa’s market position and growth potential, even as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.