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American Express (AXP) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing

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The most recent trading session ended with American Express (AXP - Free Report) standing at $187.80, reflecting a +0.4% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.04%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.03%.

The credit card issuer and global payments company's shares have seen an increase of 11.72% over the last month, surpassing the Finance sector's gain of 8.22% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.28%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of American Express in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on January 26, 2024. In that report, analysts expect American Express to post earnings of $2.63 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 27.05%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $16.01 billion, reflecting a 12.95% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $11.21 per share and revenue of $60.73 billion, indicating changes of +13.81% and +14.88%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for American Express. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.1% increase. At present, American Express boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, American Express is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.69. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.46, so one might conclude that American Express is trading at a premium comparatively.

It's also important to note that AXP currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.16. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.16 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 174, putting it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.


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