Here’s Why Visa (V) Surged in Q1

Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company, released its “Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The first quarter of 2025 was challenging for U.S. equities, marked by substantial policy shifts from the new U.S. administration, resulting in declines across all major U.S. indices.  In the quarter, the fund returned -12.26% compared to the S&P Global 1200 Information Technology Index-net’s -11.64%. Security selection drove the fund’s performance relative to the benchmark. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a payment technology company. The one-month return of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) was 4.09%, and its shares gained 37.13% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 10, 2025, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) closed at $370.70 per share, with a market capitalization of $710.139 billion.

Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) generated positive returns against a backdrop of declining markets after the company reported strong quarterly results in January. Later in the quarter, Visa held an investor day that showcased further evidence of the company’s defensive positioning with substantial room to compound revenue growth. The revenue opportunity for Visa remained sizable, with $41 trillion in annual global consumer payments that the company could access, including $11 trillion in cash and checks. In an economic downturn, the company’s scale position as the largest global payment network provider would allow it better flexibility to lower operating expenses.”

Is Visa Inc. (V) the Best Blue Chip Stock to Buy for 2025?

A close-up of a credit card being swiped on a payment terminal, reflecting the company’s payments technology.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is in 6th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 165 hedge fund portfolios held Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) at the end of the first quarter, which was 181 in the previous quarter.  In Q1 2025, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) reported $9.5 billion in net revenue, up 10% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.

In another article, we covered Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and shared RiverPark Large Growth Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.