Cognizant vs Visa: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Cognizant reported $21.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.2B of net income. Visa reported $40B of revenue in FY2025 and $20.1B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Cognizant
Cognizant's revenue grew slowly from $19.43 billion in 2022 to $19.74 billion in 2024, then jumped 7% to $21.11 billion in 2025, helped by large deals and the Belcan acquisition. Net income was $2.23 billion in 2025, GAAP operating margin was 16.1%, and adjusted operating margin was 15.8%. Free cash flow reached $2.67 billion. The company returns most of that cash: it paid $610 million in dividends and bought back $1.3 billion of stock in 2025, and deployed $1.6 billion on buybacks in the first half of 2026 alone, while also spending $1.3 billion on acquisitions and drawing $1.0 billion on its revolving credit facility. For 2026 it guides to revenue of $22.04-$22.35 billion (4.0%-5.5% constant-currency growth), adjusted operating margin of 16.0%-16.2%, and adjusted EPS of $5.70-$5.82.
Visa
Visa's fiscal year ends September 30. Fiscal 2025 net revenue was USD 40.0 billion, up 11% from USD 35.9 billion in fiscal 2024, and GAAP net income was USD 20.1 billion. Growth continued in fiscal 2026: in the third quarter (April to June 2026) net revenue rose 14% to USD 11.6 billion, quarterly payments volume passed USD 4 trillion for the first time, and Visa returned USD 6.2 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Fiscal 2026 full-year results are due in late October 2026.
Revenue and profit by year
Cognizant
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $21.1B | $2.2B | 10.6% | +7.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $19.7B | — | 0.0% | +2.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $19.4B | — | 0.0% | -0.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $19.4B | — | 0.0% | +5.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $18.5B | $2.1B | 11.5% | +11.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | $16.7B | $1.4B | 8.4% | -0.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $16.8B | $1.8B | 11.0% | +4.1% | Source |
| FY2018 | $16.1B | $2.1B | 13.0% | +8.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $14.8B | $1.5B | 10.2% | +9.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $13.5B | $1.6B | 11.5% | — | Source |
Visa
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $40B | $20.1B | 50.1% | +11.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $35.9B | $19.7B | 55.0% | +10.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $32.7B | $17.3B | 52.9% | +11.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $29.3B | $15B | 51.0% | +21.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $24.1B | $12.3B | 51.1% | +10.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $21.8B | $10.9B | 49.7% | -4.9% | Source |
| FY2019 | $23B | $12.1B | 52.6% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $20.6B | $10.3B | 50.0% | +12.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $18.4B | $6.7B | 36.5% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2016 | $15.1B | $6B | 39.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Cognizant
- Health Sciences
30.1% (2025)
Work for health plans, providers, and life-sciences companies, including TriZetto software and healthcare operations. $6.35 billion in 2025.
- Financial Services
29.2% (2025)
Technology and operations work for banks, insurers, and capital-markets firms. $6.17 billion in 2025; grew 12% in Q2 2026 to become the largest segment.
- Products and Resources
25.0% (2025)
Engineering, data, cloud, and operations work for manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, travel, energy, and utilities clients, including Belcan. $5.29 billion in 2025.
- Communications, Media and Technology
15.7% (2025)
Services for telecom, media, and technology companies. $3.30 billion in 2025.
Visa
- Service revenue
- Data processing revenue
- International transaction revenue
- Value-added services
- Visa Direct
- Fraud and risk tools
Business model and strategy
Cognizant
How it makes money
Cognizant is a B2B services business organized into four industry segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology. In 2025 Health Sciences ($6.35B) and Financial Services ($6.17B) were the two largest; by Q2 2026 Financial Services had become the largest at 31.6% of revenue after growing 12% year over year.
Growth strategy
Under CEO Ravi Kumar S, Cognizant's growth plan has four parts: win more large deals (seven deals of $100 million or more were signed in Q2 2026 alone), use AI to modernize clients' legacy applications, data, and infrastructure, deepen hyperscaler partnerships with Microsoft, Google Cloud, and AWS, and buy specialists.
Competitive advantage
Cognizant's clearest advantage is depth in regulated industries, especially U.S. healthcare and financial services. The 2014 TriZetto acquisition gave it core administration software used by many U.S. health plans, which pulls in implementation, hosting, and operations work and is costly for clients to replace.
Visa
How it makes money
Visa earns fees from the banks and other clients that use its network, not interest from cardholders. Its reported revenue lines are service revenue (based on payments volume), data processing revenue (based on transactions authorized, cleared and settled over VisaNet), international transaction revenue (cross-border and currency conversion activity) and other revenue, including value-added services such as fraud and…
Growth strategy
Visa's growth strategy is to expand credentials, increase digital acceptance, grow cross-border and e-commerce volume, sell more value-added services, scale Visa Direct, support tap-to-pay and tokenized commerce, and embed Visa capabilities inside fintech and banking platforms.
Competitive advantage
Visa's moat is a three-sided network effect. Consumers use Visa because merchants accept it, merchants accept Visa because consumers carry it, and banks issue Visa credentials because both sides already participate. The company also has fraud data, global rules, brand trust, dispute standards, token infrastructure, and bank relationships built across decades. A competitor cannot simply copy the software;
Questions about Cognizant vs Visa
Which company has higher revenue — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Visa Inc.?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation reported $21.1B (FY2025), while Visa Inc. reported $40.0B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Visa Inc. is the larger business, with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation vs Visa Inc.?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $25.6B, while Visa Inc.'s is $676.0B. Visa Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Visa Inc.?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation generates $59k / employee in revenue per employee, while Visa Inc. generates $1.17M / employee. Visa Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Visa Inc. make money?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Visa Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation: Cognizant is a B2B services business organized into four industry segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology. Visa Inc.: Visa earns fees from the banks and other clients that use its network, not interest from cardholders.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Visa Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation trades at 1.2x P/S and Visa Inc. at 16.9x P/S. Visa Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation bigger than Visa Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Visa Inc. ($40.0B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation ($21.1B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cognizant vs Visa overview