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American Express Company AXP

NYSEBanks and capital marketsFinancials to Sep 30, 2026 · Updated Nov 11, 2026

On Stock Analysis · affiliate link
AXP financials
Moat score
80
ROE
34.2%
P/E
17.9
P/B
6.1
Pretax margin
19.9%
Dividend yield
1.2%
Market cap
$216.8B

Moat ranks

Score rankTied #143 of 396
Durabilitydurable
Market structureOligopoly
Pricing powerstrong

Balance sheet

9/30/26
$BDec 31Sep 30
Cash47.643.0
Securities0.82.0
Long-term securities0.23.1
Restricted cash0.20.2
Debt57.860.0
Equity33.535.8
Leverage
Leases (12/31/25)
$1.1B
Capital
Diluted shares
674M
Book value / share
$53.11
Price / book
6.1×
Market cap
$216.8B

Per-share record

Fiscal years and TTM
Scale
$0$50$100$150'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24103.78'25115.11TTM
Revenue per shareEarnings per share

Key indicators

Latest: Q3 '26
IndicatorLatestVs year agoLast 8 quarters
Revenue growth8.9%-1.9 pts
Pretax margin22.6%+1.8 pts
Network volumes$517.9B+8%
Net card fees$3.0B+16%
Average fee per card$136.00+14%
Discount revenue as a percentage of billed business2.2%-0.0 pts
Merchant acceptance locations190.0M–
Proprietary cards in force · 6/30/2687.6M+3%
U.S. consumer billed business · 6/30/26$196.4B+11%

Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.

About AXP

American Express combines consumer and business card issuing, lending, deposit funding, merchant acquiring and a global payment network. FY2025 reportable segment revenue was about 48% U.S. consumers, 23% commercial, 18% international cards and 11% merchant/network services.

Revenue mix
U.S. Consumer Services 48.0%Commercial Services 23.3%International Card Services 17.9%Global Merchant and Network Services 10.7%
  • Brand Trust

    Fee-paying premium products and service attract high-spend consumers.

  • Habit Default

    Rewards, credits, offers, status benefits and service encourage Card Members to put recurring travel, dining and everyday spend onto Amex cards.

  • Data Network Effects

    The closed-loop model gives American Express transaction, merchant and Card Member data that improves personalization, fraud, underwriting, offers and customer servicing.

  • Data Workflow Lockin

    Corporate cards, spend controls and expense integrations embed Amex in finance workflows.

Timeline
  1. Oct 1, 2026

    Eligible Amex Platinum members lost Lufthansa lounge access, reducing one travel benefit and making later renewal behavior a useful test of membership value.

  2. Sep 30, 2026

    Amex launched Corporate Cashback Cards with integrated expense software and a mobile app, expanding its workflow offering; AI agents and accounts-payable software remain planned.

  3. Sep 30, 2026 · Gain +$982M

    September29 sale of approximately30% GBTG equity interest; reduction of Other expense,751m after tax.

  4. Sep 30, 2026 · Restructuring charge −$336M

    Efficiency initiative restructuring funded in part from GBTG sale proceeds;253m after tax.

  5. Sep 30, 2026 · Tax charge −$231M

    Tax on982m GBTG sale gain; disclosed751m after-tax benefit.

Ownership

To 10/7/26
0%votes
CEO
Stephen J. Squeri
Since 2018 · 8 yrs
Professional CEOSingle share class
Insider votes0.1%
Insider trades72
Planned sales9

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Financial record

Fiscal year2016201720182019202020212022202320242025TTMTrendChange 2016–25
Per share ($)
Revenue37.9041.6246.9652.4844.7753.6570.3082.2292.50103.78115.11+11.8%/yr
Earnings5.753.108.068.143.8910.209.9911.2114.0215.3817.94+11.6%/yr
Dividends1.291.411.541.711.831.832.082.422.803.263.71+10.9%/yr
Book value21.9520.6125.9527.8028.5228.0732.8638.1242.4548.0953.11+9.1%/yr
Diluted shares (M)935886859830806790752736713696674-3.2%/yr
Totals ($B)
Revenue35.436.940.343.636.142.452.960.565.972.277.6+8.2%/yr
Pretax income8.07.48.18.44.310.79.610.512.913.815.5+6.2%/yr
Net income5.42.76.96.83.18.17.58.410.110.812.3+8.1%/yr
Dividends1.21.31.31.41.51.41.61.82.02.32.5+7.3%/yr
Margins & returns (%)
Pretax margin22.720.120.119.411.925.218.117.419.619.119.9-3.6 pts
Net margin15.27.517.215.58.719.014.213.815.415.015.8-0.2 pts
Return on equity26.215.031.029.313.636.330.429.833.532.434.2+6.2 pts
Stock pay % of revenue0.70.80.70.60.70.80.70.70.80.80.8+0.0 pts

Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.

TTM = four quarters to Sep 30, 2026. Per-share values use diluted weighted shares.A bank's, insurer's or holding company's cash flow moves with deposits, loans, claims and deals, so the record shows pretax income and return on equity, and leaves out cash flow, free cash flow, net cash and ROIC. Returns show a dash when equity is negative or under 10% of revenue.

Moat

Moat scorecard

Moat score80
Strength
Confidence
Structure
Oligopoly
Durability
durable
Trajectory
widening
Pricing power
strong
Segments
  • U.S. Consumer Services48.0%
    3 claims
  • Commercial Services23.3%
    2 claims
  • International Card Services17.9%
    3 claims
  • Global Merchant and Network Services10.7%
    2 claims

Moat claims

Applies to
U.S. Consumer Services
Confidence
Durability
durable
Trajectory
wideningas of Oct 7, 2026
Why it holds

Fee-paying premium products and service attract high-spend consumers. Growing card fees and billings support brand value, but benefit costs and rival rewards determine how much value reaches shareholders.

Why widening

Fee recognition and demand remain strong: global average fee per card reached USD131 in Q2 2026 versus USD117 a year earlier, while U.S. consumer billings rose a reported 11%. Higher fees still depend on benefits earning their cost.

Indicators
  • Net card fees$3.0B+16%
  • Average fee per card$136.00+14%
  • U.S. consumer billed business$196.4B+11%
  • U.S. consumer cards in force49,200,000+4%
  • Card Member rewards expense$5.1B+9%
  • Card Member services expense$1.9B+50%
Risks
  • Premium rewards and lounge benefits can become an arms race against JPMorgan, Citi, Capital One and other issuers.
  • A consumer credit downturn would pressure lending economics and acquisition spend.
  • Regulation of card fees, late fees, interest rates or rewards economics could reduce monetization.
  • Lufthansa lounge access ended October 1. Loss of valued partners can weaken renewals even while fee revenue from earlier renewals keeps growing.

Profile change log

  1. Oct 7, 2026 · analyst revision

    Removing mismatched issuer-share proxies and a calculated concentration figure lowers the moat score from 81.82 to 80.02, together with the full-year revenue weights. Claim strengths and evidence-status labels are unchanged; the decline corrects unsupported scoring bonuses.

  2. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex issued Series E preferred capital at an initial 6.450% coupon and scheduled Series D redemption for September 15. The higher preferred coupon can reduce common earnings even when consolidated profit rises.

  3. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    The court approved the USD17.5 million Moskowitz antisteering class settlement, reducing that specific exposure while other merchant fee disputes continue.

  4. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    The court gave final approval to the EMV fraud-liability settlements, including Amex’s USD20 million agreement, resolving the released class claims without deciding that defendants violated law.

  5. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Eligible Amex Platinum members lost Lufthansa lounge access, reducing one travel benefit and making later renewal behavior a useful test of membership value.

  6. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex launched Corporate Cashback Cards with integrated expense software and a mobile app, expanding its workflow offering; AI agents and accounts-payable software remain planned.

  7. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Long Lake completed its GBT acquisition; Amex’s equity stake converted to USD9.50 per share cash rights and its ownership ended. The effect on AXP Q3 profit is not yet reported.

  8. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex announced more than 190 million enabled merchant locations as of July, including partner and wallet acceptance, broadening where members can use their cards.

  9. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex signed the definitive agreement to buy TheFork for USD700 million cash, subject to adjustments and approvals; closing is expected by year end, so its dining platform is not yet consolidated.

  10. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex raised FY2026 revenue growth guidance to 10% and kept common EPS guidance at USD17.30–17.90, planning to reinvest stronger revenue into growth.

  11. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex committed up to USD2.8 billion for a new headquarters and recognized a USD370 million land finance lease, increasing future investment needs.

  12. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex acquired its partner’s remaining Swisscard interest and consolidated the issuer, adding reported intangible assets and goodwill; the remeasurement gain is not separately quantified.

  13. Oct 7, 2026 · business change

    Amex sold Accertify, producing a USD531 million pretax gain and exiting the fraud-software subsidiary; its card network data capability remains.

  14. Oct 7, 2026 · analyst revision

    Network and U.S. consumer brand trajectories are widening on acceptance, billings and fee evidence. Habit, commercial workflows, procurement and data claims stay stable where renewal, adoption, fraud or offer-return outcomes remain undisclosed. Leadership, capital and the investment debate now cover lender risks as well as network strengths.

  15. Oct 7, 2026 · analyst revision

    FY2025 annual reportable segment revenue replaces Q2 2026 mix. Segment pretax shares are removed because USD2.254 billion of corporate pretax losses were excluded. Three issuer market-share proxies are removed because they mixed geography or consumer/commercial denominators. The network share now uses one measure: reported 9.29% of global credit-card purchase value; the calculated HHI is omitted.

  16. Oct 7, 2026 · analyst revision

    The owner changed the industry to Banks and capital markets because American Express is a bank holding company with card lending, deposits and net interest revenue. Its bank reporting and credit risks make banks the relevant peers.

Industry & peers

Peer map

0%10%20%30%40%50%60708090100Moat scoreVSANGPNADYEN

Hover a point for its values; click a peer to compare. Dashed lines: industry medians.

U.S. consumer credit and charge cards

As of Oct 7, 2026
OligopolyHigh cyclicalityUSD 3,600B in 2024

U.S. consumer general-purpose credit and charge card issuing, lending, paid membership and rewards. Private-label retail cards are an adjacent alternative. Merchant network services and commercial-card spending are separate markets. Consumer purchase values measure spending, not issuer revenue.

  1. JPMorgan Chase
  2. American Express
  3. Citi
  4. Capital One
  5. Bank of America
2024 leaders, no comparable shares · Nilson publisher release
StocksMoatGross m.Op. m.
AXP80––
Industry median956––
Sector median497361.5%35.0%
All stocks median3987653.1%20.0%

Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.

Drivers & risks

Demand drivers
  • Consumer employment and income drive both card spending and repayments. Affluent customers can support travel and dining spending, but recession still raises issuer losses.
  • Demand for premium service, travel access and rewards supports paid membership. Fee increases create value only when members renew and rewards/service costs remain controlled.
  • Digital commerce and regular card-on-file use can raise repeat purchases. Issuers still compete inside wallets, and nominal billings can rise with prices without stronger customer loyalty.
  • Funding mix and deposit repricing affect net interest income. Higher rates may raise lending yields but also increase funding costs and borrower stress; the net effect depends on repricing and hedging.
Risks
  • Rewards and lounge competition can consume annual-fee gains. Benefit reductions can harm renewal even before recognized fee revenue falls.
  • Consumer unemployment, declining income or excessive debt can raise charge-offs and loss provisions. Lending losses remain recurring business costs.
  • Rules governing interest, late fees, merchant steering, rewards or marketing can reduce monetization. Antitrust and tax disputes can add costs without reducing reported spending.
  • Cyber incidents, fraud and service failures can damage trust. Privacy limits may weaken targeting or underwriting, while technology and skilled-labor costs require continuing investment.

Bulls & bears

Key question · as of Oct 7, 2026

Can paid membership and wider acceptance keep spending and fee income ahead of rewards, service, funding and credit-loss costs as competitors copy the benefits?

Arguments

3 forFaded: weakening or settled5 against

What to watch

  1. 1Net card fees and average fee per card, with retention after product refreshes
  2. 2U.S. consumer, commercial and international billings on reported and currency-adjusted bases
  3. 3Commercial cards in force and adoption/retention of the new expense platform
  4. 4Discount revenue as a percentage of billed business, plus rewards and services expense
  5. 5Combined card write-offs and delinquencies; monthly principal rates on their separate basis
  6. 6CET1 capital, deposit funding costs and the reported interest-rate sensitivity
  7. 7TheFork closing, integration spending and the earnings effect of the completed GBT stake sale

Next check: Q4 2026 results: test 10% revenue growth, updated GAAP EPS18.30–18.60 versus adjusted17.60–17.90, membership gains, GBTG/restructuring effects and credit reserves.

Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Nov 10, 2026. Not investment advice.

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Moat Score 80/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/XNYS:AXP">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)

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