Visa stock declined 4.5% on February 23, 2026, amid broader market movements in payment and software stocks. The decline occurred following a bearish report from Citrini Research released over the weekend that outlined potential AI-related economic risks to payment processors and delivery services. The report presented a hypothetical scenario set in June 2028 involving AI-driven disruption. Additionally, Mexico's National Antitrust Commission rejected Visa's proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Mexican payment processor Prosa on competition grounds. The transaction, first unveiled in December 2023, would have given Visa majority control and access to transaction-level information. Visa is reviewing the regulatory ruling and evaluating options. Other payment and financial services stocks also declined significantly on the same day.
Read full analysisVisa stock declined 4.5% on February 23, 2026, amid broader market movements in payment and software stocks. The decline occurred following a bearish report from Citrini Research released over the weekend that outlined potential AI-related economic risks to payment processors and delivery services. The report presented a hypothetical scenario set in June 2028 involving AI-driven disruption. Additionally, Mexico's National Antitrust Commission rejected Visa's proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Mexican payment processor Prosa on competition grounds. The transaction, first unveiled in December 2023, would have given Visa majority control and access to transaction-level information. Visa is reviewing the regulatory ruling and evaluating options. Other payment and financial services stocks also declined significantly on the same day.
Visa is the world's largest payment network, processing electronic transactions between consumers, merchants, and financial institutions and earning fees on transaction volume rather than lending. The company is navigating a historically dense period of headwinds — Trump administration rate cap rhetoric, interchange fee settlement disputes with major retailers including Walmart, and Mexico's block of its Prosa acquisition. The current selloff centers on a Citrini Research scenario analysis flagging AI as an existential threat to payment intermediaries, a thesis that has hammered the entire payments sector.