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AmEx (AXP) Boosts Product Suite With Technology Investments

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American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) announced product and analytics upgradation within its digital cash flow management hub, American Express Business Blueprint. The service was launched in January 2023 as a means to provide a wide array of digital financial products from a single platform for small businesses across the United States.

The analytics enhancements have been made to the My Insights feature of Business Blueprint consequent to which the Business Card Members will be equipped to connect eligible external bank and card accounts with Business Blueprint. Additionally, notifications will appear on the online dashboard of a customer on the observance of abnormal expenditures. Therefore, the newly introduced benefits aim to offer a comprehensive understanding and better management of business cash flows by small businesses.

American Express Business Checking, one of the products available through the Business Blueprint, has undergone an advancement with the integration of two lucrative features. The facility to deposit a paper check using a mobile device has been attached with the product, which ensures accelerated access to funds. Customers can also schedule recurring and future payments in advance for a year.

The recent announcement bears testament to American Express’ persistent technology investments to build a solid digital suite, which is a dire need in the booming digital era. It also reflects AXP’s sincere efforts to incorporate new options or upgrade existing ones within its card offerings, which remain commendable since the card-issuing business remains an important source of revenues for American Express. Therefore, the latest initiative is expected to contribute to its top line in the days ahead. Management remains optimistic to achieve revenue growth of more than 10% in the long-term.

According to the American Express Small Business Financial Confidence Report, 32% of the surveyed small business leaders expressed their desire to have more direction regarding cash flow. Additionally, 31% of them wished to have further knowledge about expense management. This makes the recent move of AXP a time opportune one as well.

Not only does American Express promote the widespread adoption of digital means but it also takes care of frauds, which often come in handy with digital transactions, with effective fraud prevention services. This June, it undertook collaborations with the data aggregation and analytics platform, Envestnet | Yodlee, and Plaid, the digital financial services provider. The underlying motive of both partnerships was to offer its Card Members a seamless access to digital financial tools.

Shares of American Express have gained 11.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 6.4% growth. AXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

 

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the Finance space are Northeast Community Bancorp, Inc. (NECB - Free Report) , Amalgamated Financial Corp. (AMAL - Free Report) and Fidus Investment Corporation (FDUS - Free Report) . Northeast Community Bancorp sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Amalgamated Financial and Fidus Investment carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Northeast Community Bancorp’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 17.62%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NECB’s 2023 earnings suggests a surge of 81%, while the consensus estimate for revenues suggests growth of 46% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for NECB’s 2023 earnings has moved 10% north in the past 60 days.

The bottom line of Amalgamated Financial outpaced estimates in three of the last four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 7.02%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 5.2%, while the consensus estimate for revenues suggests growth of 7.6% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for AMAL’s 2023 earnings has moved 0.7% north in the past 60 days.

Fidus Investment’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 9.52%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FDUS’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 30.3%, while the consensus estimate for revenues suggests growth of 35.4% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for FDUS’s 2023 earnings has moved 5.6% north in the past 60 days.

Shares of Northeast Community Bancorp and Fidus Investment have rallied 23.1% and 12.8%, respectively, in the past year. The Amalgamated Financial stock has, however, declined 24.4% in the same time frame.

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