A mind-boggling figure, $4.5 trillion to be exact, ran across Visa's (NYSE: V) network just in the three months that ended Dec. 31, 2025. Moreover, 5 billion of its cards are in use around the globe. This is a monster in the world of global payments.

Investors who own Visa have gained. If you'd bought $10,000 of this financial stock 10 years ago, here's how much you'd have today.

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Visa shares put up a total return of 335% in the decade ending March 19, 2026. So if you invested $10,000 in this company 10 years earlier, you have almost $43,500 today. This performance leads the S&P 500 index.

What stands out about this gain is that it's primarily the result of improving fundamentals. Visa's price-to-earnings ratio expanded by only 5% in the past 10 years. The current P/E multiple of 28.4, however, is quite a bit lower than it was at the start of 2026.

This means that profit growth has been the most important driver for investment returns. Visa's diluted earnings per share rose 295% from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2025. Durable revenue growth, thanks to ongoing penetration of cashless transactions, continues to propel the overall business.

Shares in the payments juggernaut are set to be higher in the future.

Before you buy stock in Visa, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Visa wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

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Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

If You Invested $10,000 in Visa Stock 10 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today was originally published by The Motley Fool