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AmEx (AXP) to Assist Small Businesses With Virtual Card Solution

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American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) recently announced that it had collaborated with American Express Global Business Travel in a bid to aid small and mid-sized firms in managing their expenses efficiently. This will provide small business owners with a solution to tackle the inefficient handling of expenses.

This move bodes well for American Express as this new integration will enhance its offerings in the Commercial Services space. The company has promising prospects as it continuously strengthens its foothold in commercial payments by differentiating its card value propositions. Due to the company’s value-enhancing initiatives, it continues to experience growth in new accounts and higher retention levels. This integration is expected to lure more customers to AXP’s Commercial Services business, which earns the majority from non-interest revenues.

This new initiative will enable small business owners to issue virtual cards for their personnel through Amex GBT Neo1, an expense management platform. Once U.S. card members are enrolled, they can add the relevant card account to the platform. This way, businesses can keep track of expenses with the help of a procurement platform and an expense system. Companies can better view and control employee expenditures, such as purchasing with virtual cards, business travel booking and budgeting.

Manual expense management process consumes a significant amount of time and resources, making it difficult for small and mid-sized companies to bear such expenses. Companies can set spending controls with the automation of the expense management process and benefit from reduced complexity. This is a win-win situation for AXP as this enhances its offerings, making them more attractive. Moves like these should help AXP achieve its long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth target in the mid-teens. AXP expects total revenues to grow between 9% and 11% in 2024. Looking ahead, the company anticipates a continuous revenue growth trajectory, targeting more than 10% in the long run.

Price Performance

Shares of American Express have gained 30.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 11.5%.

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

American Express currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the finance sector are Cboe Global Markets (CBOE - Free Report) , Coinbase Global (COIN - Free Report) and Assurant, Inc. (AIZ - Free Report) .

Cboe Global delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CBOE’s 2024 earnings suggests a year-over-year rise of 6.4%. It presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Coinbase has an excellent track record of beating earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 377.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COIN’s 2024 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 173%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Estimates for Assurant’s 2024 EPS indicate a year-over-year increase of 3.4%. The company beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, the average being 42.2%. It presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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