Visa profit jumps on strong holiday spending

Visa says that its profit jumped 22 percent in its fiscal first quarter, helped by strong holiday spending in the U.S.

The San Francisco-based payment processor reported Thursday that it earned $2.52 billion, or $1.07 per share, for the quarter that ended in December. That's up from $2.07 billion, or 86 cents per share, earned in the same quarter of the prior year.

Excluding special items related to tax reform, the company earned $1.08 per share. That far exceeded the 98 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated.

Visa's total revenue increased nearly 9 percent to $4.86 billion, also exceeding expectations. Payments volume increased 10 percent over the prior year.