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Monday's Bonus Story Why Mastercard and Visa Are the Definition of Forever StocksBy Jordan Chussler. Posted: 3/14/2026. 
Key Points- The financials sector has lagged the S&P 500 this year, but two payment processing giants continue to deliver the kind of margins and earnings consistency that define long-term holdings.
- Despite recent sector-wide struggles, Visa and Mastercard function as a veritable duopoly, controlling over 90% of payments outside of China.
- Visa hasn't missed on earnings in 10 years, while Mastercard has secured 21 consecutive quarterly beats.
- Special Report: One overlooked stock could go vertical soon
After finishing the past two years with an average annual gain of nearly 23%, the financials sector has struggled this year. With a year-to-date loss of around 9%, the cohort ranks last among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors. But zooming out, the companies that call the sector home have proven to be key components of buy-and-hold investors’ portfolios. One micro-cap subsea mining company just submitted a formal bid in response to a U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium solicitation to provide a reliable supply of Nickel to the United States. The DIBC, managed by Advanced Technology International on behalf of the DoW, issued this RPP in February 2026 targeting nickel, a critical mineral used in aircraft, missiles, semiconductors, and defense technologies—the Consortium provides non-dilutive financing for selected contractors, meaning potential government-backed capital without issuing new shares. The urgency is not theoretical—China controls approximately 80% of global cobalt refining and 90% of rare earth processing and imposed defense-targeted export restrictions in December 2025. Management brings 25+ years of offshore experience from ConocoPhillips and BP, with roughly C$26 million market cap. View the full report here With high-quality growth stocks increasingly difficult to identify, two legacy companies operating in the global payment processing and digital payment markets continue to deliver profit margins that qualify them as forever stocks. Why Digital Payment and Payment Processors Make for Good Forever StocksThese companies have historically enjoyed higher profit margins than many other industries, thanks to high-volume demand, ease of automation, and technology-driven business models that translate into low marginal costs per transaction. The industry is also poised for strong growth. According to industry analytics firm Grand View Research, the global payment processing solutions market, valued at nearly $48 billion in 2022, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% through 2030, reaching nearly $140 billion by the start of the next decade. Grand View also forecasts that the digital payment market, valued at more than $114 billion in 2024, will grow at a 21.4% CAGR through 2030, reaching more than $361 billion. While that level of growth and attractive gross margins could suggest the space is crowded, two of the biggest names in the industry still operate in a veritable duopoly, handling over 90% of credit card and digital payments processed outside of China. With roots stretching back to the mid-1900s, these firms control critical payment infrastructure, allowing them to influence fees, limit competition, and preserve strong margins. Despite challengers such as Block (NYSE: XYZ), with its Cash App, and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), with Venmo, none fit the bill of a forever stock better than the following two. Mastercard: The $450 Billion Market Cap Company Focusing on Tech IntegrationSince Michael Miebach took the reins at Mastercard (NYSE: MA) in 2021, management has focused on expanding tech platforms, supporting cross-border commerce, and developing services that help clients reduce fraud, streamline payment flows and leverage payments data for insights. That strategy helped Mastercard achieve record revenue and net income in 2025. Revenue of nearly $33 billion represented a year-over-year (YOY) increase of more than 16%, while net income of nearly $15 billion also rose by more than 16% YOY. Much of that profitability was driven by an effectively 100% gross margin in 2025, enabled by tech integrations and a minimal cost of goods sold; the company's quarterly gross profit consistently matched its quarterly net revenue. For investors, that has translated into reliable earnings performance. The last time Mastercard missed on earnings was Q3 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the company has recorded 21 consecutive quarterly earnings beats. Most recently, Mastercard reported Q4 2025 EPS of $4.76, a nearly 25% YOY increase. Analysts expect earnings to grow roughly 17% in the year ahead, from $15.91 to $18.61 per share. At the same time, Mastercard has been shifting from a traditional payment network toward an AI-driven, software-focused enterprise, emphasizing enhanced security, simplified B2B transactions with virtual cards, and agentic AI tools. Moreover, Mastercard pays a dividend that, while modest (currently 0.69%), has increased for 13 consecutive years. The firm maintains a sustainable dividend payout ratio of 21.07%, and its annualized five-year dividend growth rate is 13.70%. Visa: Evolving and Adapting Since 1958Visa (NYSE: V) operates a network-based model that lets partnering banks and other financial institutions issue branded payment products while Visa focuses on infrastructure, standards, and technology integration. Like Mastercard, Visa is rapidly integrating fintech capabilities, concentrating on AI-driven solutions and blockchain-based settlement, with the goal of shifting from traditional card transactions to more flexible, digital-first experiences by 2026. That strategy helped Visa report record revenue and net income in 2025, with revenue of $40 billion—an 11% YOY increase—and net income of nearly $20 billion. Visa’s consistency is notable: it has not missed an earnings estimate in the past 10 years. Over that stretch, the company met analyst expectations twice and beat EPS forecasts 38 times. Much of Visa's performance stems from strong profitability: it posted nearly an 83% gross profit margin in 2025, in line with its 10-year average. Like its counterpart, Visa pays a modest dividend (currently yielding 0.87%). Its dividend payout ratio is a healthy 25.14%, its annualized five-year dividend growth rate is 14.48%, and it has increased its payout for 17 consecutive years. | 
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