Dear Reader,
A lot of investors are looking at the AI boom like it’s a short-term phenomenon.
Like it’s a fad that’s going to die down pretty soon.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said we’re only in the “beginning phases of AI diffusion.”
And Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says the AI infrastructure buildout is still in the “early innings right now.”
AI still needs massive amounts of infrastructure, equipment, software, data capacity and supporting technology.
Which means as this buildout continues, the money flowing into AI could spread out into a whole new group of stocks that nobody has thought about until now.
In fact, our analysts at Weiss Ratings believe this is already happening.
Three AI stocks identified by our ratings system are already up 37%, 55% and 264%.
And we’ve identified 10 more Buy-rated stocks for a new special report: 10 Stocks to Own for the Next AI Boom
I’ll show you how to get your hands on this report.
But first, there’s a bigger question involved:
How do you consistently find lesser-known AI stocks that could benefit from this boom? Not just now but over the next decade and beyond?
The answer is inside our new presentation.
Eliza Lasky
Weiss Advocate
Visa Reports Tuesday. A Beat Alone Will Not Save It.
American Express delivered adjusted EPS of $4.68 on Friday, beat consensus by about $0.20, raised full-year guidance, and still closed 3.6% lower. The market’s verdict was unambiguous: the beat was tax-aided, and revenue missed. Quality of earnings, not the headline number, drove the selling. Visa reports its own fiscal Q4 and full-year 2026 results Tuesday night, and that precedent lands squarely on its desk.
This is not about whether Visa beats $3.44. It has beaten consensus in each of the last eight quarters. The question is whether the beat carries enough operational weight to justify a stock that has run sharply since its late-July report and now trades at a premium multiple. At that valuation, a nominal beat is priced in. The market needs a reason to pay more.
The Numbers on the Table
The 31-analyst consensus calls for $3.44 in EPS on $12.09 billion of revenue, with year-ago EPS listed at $2.98. For the full fiscal year 2026, the Street view centers on $45.78 billion in revenue. Management guided Q4 net revenue growth to the high end of low double digits and EPS growth to the low end of mid-teens, framing that consensus as achievable but not padded.
Three lines will determine the post-report reaction. First, client incentives: management said Q4 incentive growth should run slightly above Q3 on a nominal basis. Any acceleration beyond that signal tightens the margin story. Second, cross-border volume: in Q3, cross-border volume excluding transactions within Europe grew 14%, a meaningful engine. A deceleration here would strip one of the few levers that separates Visa from a flat-volume quarter. Third, the fiscal 2027 outlook: a guide below what the Street is already modeling, or vague language about incentive spending next year, does more damage than any Q4 miss could.
The Stablecoin Argument: Real Revenue or Investor Relations?
Visa’s stablecoin positioning is genuine infrastructure, not a press release. By August 2026, Visa Direct was being marketed as reaching more than 18 billion endpoints in more than 195 countries and territories, and Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot had expanded to nine blockchain networks. Visa said in April 2026 that the settlement pilot was running at a $7 billion annualized rate, up 50% from the prior quarter. Separately, Visa said payment volume on stablecoin-linked card programs was up nearly 200% year over year in fiscal Q2 2026, and its own data shows roughly 17% of stablecoin-linked card volume is occurring across business and commercial card programs.
None of that yet shows up as a discrete revenue line. Tuesday night’s call will matter less for what stablecoins earned in Q4 and more for whether management can articulate a path from run-rate volume to incremental net revenue. Investors who were already skeptical of the valuation will need that translation.
Stablecoin volume metrics face the same credibility test that AI demand narratives face in semiconductor earnings. ARM’s options carried very high implied volatility precisely because the market was unsure whether optimistic demand narratives were fully priced in.
Options Market Analysis
The options market is pricing a move of roughly 3.2% to 3.7% for the October 30 expiry, the first contract after Tuesday’s close. With shares near $408, the at-the-money straddle on the 407.5 strike was quoted at approximately $15.05, implying a range of roughly $393 to $423. Visa’s typical post-earnings move over the past eight reports has been about 1.4%, meaning the options market is pricing in more than double the historical realized move. In four of those prior quarters, the stock moved less than the implied straddle. On October 28, 2025, shares fell 0.9% against a 3.6% implied move.
The 30-day implied volatility stands near 23%, elevated relative to 20% realized historical volatility. Put-call volume ratio reached 2.5x as of October 19, an asymmetric lean toward downside protection ahead of the earnings release.
Structured Trade Framework
Bull case: If you believe Visa delivers revenue above $12.2 billion, holds client incentive growth below the Q3 pace, and guides FY2027 EPS above $15.00, a defined-risk long structure through a November call spread captures upside while limiting the IV crush that follows the report.
Bear case: For traders expecting guidance disappointment or incentive creep, a put spread in the $395 to $380 range, expiring October 30 or November 6, defines the risk to the premium paid while targeting the lower bound of the options-implied range.
Neutral case: Given that Visa has historically underdelivered the implied move, a short iron condor centered on the 407.5 strike, with wings at approximately $390 and $425, collects the elevated premium while capping loss if the report generates an outsized reaction. Maximum risk is defined to the difference in strikes minus premium collected.
Risk and Forward Outlook
The asymmetry here is valuation-driven. Visa has already pulled forward substantial FY2027 growth expectations. A clean beat with in-line guidance can still produce a muted or negative reaction when the market is focused on earnings quality and the durability of margins. A meaningful guidance raise is the only credible catalyst for a sustained move higher. Conversely, any revenue miss or incentive overage, particularly against the Amex template from last week, could compress the multiple quickly.
Action Checklist
- Consensus: $3.44 EPS, $12.09B revenue. Watch for a beat above $3.50 and revenue above $12.2B as the threshold that breaks the pattern.
- Key lines to track: client incentive growth rate vs. Q3; cross-border volume ex-Europe vs. Q3’s 14%; FY2027 EPS guidance vs. the Street’s current model.
- Stablecoin call: listen for a revenue bridge, not just volume metrics.
- Options: implied move of 3.2-3.7% vs. about 1.4% typical move over the last eight reports. IV crush is the base case after the report regardless of direction.
- Defined-risk structures only ahead of a binary event at elevated implied volatility.
