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American Express Co

American Express Co

AXP · NYSE · Credit Services

American Express Company is a global payments and premium financial services business, best known for its charge cards, credit cards, merchant network, travel services, rewards programmes, and business payment solutions.

Current price

$306.95

▼ −$2.89 (0.93%) today

Share price

Live market data
▼ -16.17 (-5.00%)2025-10-13 — 2026-10-14
$390.45$369.70$348.95$328.21$307.46$286.712025-10-132026-10-14
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ET&A View

Last reviewed 14 September 2026

Buy

ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.

Fair Value
Members
12M Price Target
Members
Preferred Entry
Members
ET&A Score
8.4/ 10Strong overall
Members see what we think American Express Co is worth today, our 12-month Price Target, the price we would prefer to buy at and the return we expect. See membership

American Express is one of the highest-quality franchises in global financial services, combining a powerful premium consumer brand with an integrated payments network, high-spending Card Members, recurring card fees and a…

Is it expensive?

Read our full view

Why we like it

  • Turns about 23% of its sales into spare cash.
  • Profits are growing fast (+7%).
  • Sales are growing quickly (+10% a year).

What worries us

  • The share price has been weak recently.
Members see every risk we are watching. See membership

Business Health

Is the business financially healthy?

Yes — healthy

Revenue, earnings, margins and cash generation stand out.

Overall

Strong

  • Revenue

    $70.9bn · ↑ +10% last year

    Growth Strong

  • Earnings

    $11.3bn · ↑ +7% last year

    Growth Strong

  • Margins

    Keeps 20% of sales as operating profit

    Strong

  • Cash generation

    $16.0bn spare cash a year · 23% of sales

    Excellent

  • Balance sheet

    How much it owes against what it earns

    Not rated yet

  • Dividend

    1.2% yield · Pays out 21% of earnings · covered 4.7×

    Yield Below Average
Financial and earnings trends

Investor View

More on American Express Co

Open a section for the detail behind the quick view.

Our full viewET&A's complete thesis — why we hold the view we do.

American Express is one of the highest-quality franchises in global financial services, combining a powerful premium consumer brand with an integrated payments network, high-spending Card Members, recurring card fees…

Insight

The complete ET&A view

See our full reasoning, what could drive the shares higher or go wrong, our Fair Value and Preferred Entry, and how our view has changed.

  • Our View in full
  • What could drive it higher / go wrong
  • Fair Value & Preferred Entry
  • How our view has changed
Explore Insight →Included with Insight
What could drive it higher — and what could go wrongThe catalysts and risks we are watching.
Members see every catalyst and risk we are watching. See membership
Valuation discussionWhere today's price sits, and how it compares with the company's own history and its peers.
Members see where the price sits against our valuation, its history and its peers. See membership
Who it suitsStrategy suitability and investment style.

Long-term growth investors

Also suits: Investors who want a mix of growth and stability

Investment styleQualityGrowthET&A strategies: Balanced, Growth · what these mean
How it compares with peersOther companies we cover in Credit Services.

Compare American Express Co with any company → The model’s own peer calculations are in the Research View.

What the company doesThe full company profile.

American Express Company is a global payments and premium financial services business, best known for its charge cards, credit cards, merchant network, travel services, rewards programmes, and business payment solutions. The company serves consumers, small businesses, large corporates, merchants, and partners through a model that combines card issuing, payment processing, lending, travel, dining, lifestyle benefits, and expense management.

American Express’ strength comes from its premium brand, affluent customer base, closed-loop payments network, merchant relationships, and strong position in travel, entertainment, dining, and business spending. Unlike pure card networks, American Express often has a direct relationship with both cardholders and merchants, giving it valuable data, pricing power, and customer loyalty. This makes the company an important payments and financial services platform with exposure to consumer spending, corporate payments, travel recovery, digital commerce, and premium lifestyle consumption.

Credit Services · USA

Research ViewOpen the full researchFull financial statements, valuation multiples, historical data, forecasts, methodology, scoring calculations and the valuation model.

For detailed analysis. Each section opens on its own.

Financial statementsEvery published figure with its source, the market snapshot and connected sheets.

Income

Revenue
$70.9bn
Gross profit
$44.2bn
Operating profit (EBIT)
$14.4bn
Net income
$11.3bn
Earnings per share (EPS)
$16.48

Growth

Revenue growth, latest year
9.5%
Revenue growth, 3-year average
11.0%
Earnings growth, latest year
7.0%
Earnings growth, 3-year average
13.0%
Revenue growth, latest quarter vs a year earlier
12.8%
Earnings growth, latest quarter vs a year earlier
11.0%

Margins & returns

Gross margin
62.3%
EBITDA margin
0.0%
Operating margin
20.3%
Net margin
16.1%
Return on equity (ROE)
34.4%
Return on assets (ROA)
3.8%

Cash flow

Operating cash flow
$18.5bn
Free cash flow
$16.0bn
Free-cash-flow margin
22.6%
Free cash flow ÷ net income
1.4×

Balance sheet

Cash
$45.8bn
Total debt
$59.1bn
Net debt
$13.3bn
Debt ÷ equity
1.7×
Current ratio
1.6×

Shares & dividends

Shares outstanding
675.3m
Market capitalisation
$207.3bn
Dividend per share
$3.54
Dividend yield
1.2%
Payout ratio
21.5%
  • Market data — the live feed (Yahoo Finance)
  • Calculated — worked out by ET&A from the figures shown, using the formulas in our methodology

Other published figures

Price / Sales
Members
Price / Book
Members
Forward P/E
Members
Valuation ratios (P/E, P/S, P/B, EV/EBITDA) are part of ET&A membership — view plans.

Market data

Live
Price$306.95
Day−$2.89 (−0.93%)
52-week range$292.27 – $384.89
vs 52-week low+5.02%
vs 52-week high−20.25%

As of 14 October 2026

P/E Ratio
18.63x
Valuation multiplesP/E, forward P/E, EV/EBITDA, Price/Sales and FCF yield — today and at Fair Value.

Standard ways of comparing the share price with the company’s earnings, sales and cash. Tap the “i” for what each one means.

MeasureTodaySource
P/EMembers
Forward P/EMembers
EV/EBITDAMembers
Price/SalesMembers
FCF YieldMembers

Valuation ratios are part of ET&A membership.

Other published measures

Price / Book
Members
Historical dataValuation history, how our view has changed, and the share-price history.

Valuation history

Members see how the valuation compares with its history. See membership

Share-price history

Use the 5Y and Max ranges on the price chart at the top of the page.

ForecastsWhat analysts expect — market consensus, not ET&A estimates.

Forecasts

Forward EPS (next year, consensus)
$20.15
Expected EPS growth, next year
14.6%
Expected revenue growth, next year
10.0%

Forecasts are market consensus or calculated from forward EPS — not ET&A estimates, and they can be wrong.

MethodologyHow ET&A values a company and reaches a view.

How we value American Express Co

  1. 1. The right method for the business. Each business is valued on the method that suits its economics — earnings for most companies, book value and returns for banks and insurers, cash flows or dividends where earnings mislead.
  2. 2. What the business deserves. ET&A builds a fair multiple from the company's own quality, sustainable growth, earnings predictability and risk. History, peers and the market are checked against it, but they don't set it.
  3. 3. Fair Value. The earnings (or other basis) per share multiplied by that fair multiple, cross-checked against independent methods.
  4. 4. Preferred Entry. A price below Fair Value that leaves room for the return ET&A requires for the company's risk.
  5. 5. Is it expensive? Today’s price is placed on ET&A’s Valuation Attractiveness scale — the same measure the ET&A Score uses. Cheap is the Preferred Entry; above Fair Value the shares are Expensive, and Very Expensive once they are more than 25% above it.

Powered by the ET&A Valuation FrameworkHow Fair Value & Preferred Entry work →

Read the full ET&A methodology →

How we reach a view

The ET&A View combines our assessment of the business with where today’s price sits against our Preferred Entry and Fair Value. It is a considered judgement, not a mechanical score.

  • Business quality
  • Financial performance
  • Growth outlook
  • Debt and financial strength
  • Valuation
  • Risk
  • What could drive it higher
Buy
ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.
Accumulate
ET&A likes the company but would prefer investors to build exposure gradually.
Hold
ET&A sees limited reason to buy aggressively or sell at the current price.
Reduce
ET&A believes the current valuation or risk profile makes a smaller position more appropriate.
Sell
ET&A believes the downside risk materially outweighs the potential return at the current price.

ET&A Score: ET&A's overall assessment of business quality, valuation, growth and risk, out of 10. It weighs business quality, financial strength, growth, valuation, risk, future prospects.

Powered by the ET&A Company Assessment FrameworkSee the full framework →

Scoring calculationsBehind the ET&A Score and the Business Health ratings.

Behind the ET&A Score

The automatic, rules-based scores that feed our research. The ET&A Score blends these with our own analysis of the business and its value. How the framework works →

ET&A Quant Score

4.1/ 10Weak

Thin margins · Weak

Profitability & margins · Thin margins5.0
Price momentum · Weak2.2

Context — not part of the score

  • Valuation multiplesFairly priced
  • Share-price steadinessHigh volatility
  • IncomeLow yield

Valuation and share-price swings describe the shares, not the company, so they are judged in the ET&A Score and View instead.

Annualised volatility
Members
Max drawdown (1y)
Members
12-month return
Members
3-month return
Members
P/E
Members
Price / Sales
Members
Dividend yield
Members
The detailed figures behind these scores — price swings, past falls, returns, valuation and margins — are part of ET&A membership. View plans

Based on the factors that could be measured (30% of the model).

Business Health ratings

Each area is scored from 0 to 10 on ET&A’s methodology scales — the same ones our research uses — then given a word: Excellent from 8.5, Strong from 7, Good from 5.5, Average from 4.5, Below Average from 3, Weak below 3. The overall answer is the average of the areas we could rate (at least three); the dividend isn’t part of it.

AreaBased onScoreRating
Revenue
  • Revenue growth, 3-year average 11.0% → 7.2

Rated on 3-year average revenue growth, on ET&A's growth scale.

7.2 / 10Strong
Earnings
  • Earnings growth, 3-year average 13.0% → 7.6

Rated on 3-year average earnings growth, on ET&A's growth scale.

7.6 / 10Strong
Margins
  • Operating margin 20.3% → 7.1
  • Net margin 16.1% → 7.2

The average of operating and net margin, each scored on ET&A's margin scales. A negative margin scores 1 (Weak).

7.2 / 10Strong
Cash generation
  • Free-cash-flow margin 22.6% → 9.5

Free cash flow as a share of sales, on ET&A's cash-generation scale.

9.5 / 10Excellent
Balance sheetNeeds net debt and EBITDA to rate.

Net debt ÷ EBITDA — roughly how many years of operating earnings would repay the debt — on ET&A's leverage scale.

—Not rated
Dividend
  • Dividend yield 1.2% → 3.5

Dividend yield on ET&A's income scale. Not part of the overall health rating.

3.5 / 10Below Average
OverallAverage of the 4 rated areas7.9 / 10Strong

ET&A's scales

Where each band starts on the scales above. They are fixed and identical for every company we cover; they come straight from ET&A’s methodology, so a company is judged the same way here as in our research.

MeasureExcellentStrongGoodAverageBelow AverageWeak
GrowthStructural Growth (Fundamental Conviction)18%+10%+5.0%+1.7%+−2.5%+below −2.5%
Operating marginCompetitive Position (Fundamental Conviction)29%+20%+13%+7.5%+0%+below 0% (loss)
Net marginEarnings Durability (Fundamental Conviction)23%+15%+9.8%+6.0%+0%+below 0% (loss)
Free-cash-flow marginCapital Allocation (Fundamental Conviction)15%+8.5%+3.8%+1.3%+−2.5%+below −2.5%
Net debt ÷ EBITDAStructural Risk (Fundamental Conviction)net cash≤ 1.5×≤ 2.8×≤ 3.6×≤ 5.0×above 5.0×
Return on equity (banks & insurers)Bank and insurer quality16%+12%+9.0%+6.7%+2.7%+below 2.7%
Equity ÷ assetsBank capital7.5%+6.0%+4.7%+4.0%+any—
Dividend yieldIncome factor (ET&A Quant Score)5.8%+4.0%+2.5%+1.8%+1.0%+below 1.0%

Band floors: Excellent 8.5 · Strong 7 · Good 5.5 · Average 4.5 · Below Average 3 (scores out of 10). Utilities and property companies’ structural debt is scored 6.5, as in ET&A’s risk model.

Valuation model outputsFair Value, the 12-Month Price Target, Preferred Entry and the expected return — and how each was calculated.
Members see how we calculate the Fair Value and Preferred Entry. See membership
Peer calculationsThe comparable companies the valuation model used, with their multiples and returns.
Members see the peer set behind our valuation. See membership
Detailed assumptionsEvery input the valuation model used, with its source.
Members see the assumptions behind our valuation. See membership
Research notes1 downloadable research note.

Need deeper analysis on American Express Co? ET&A Professional includes full company notes, valuations and models — or commission bespoke research.

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