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AmEx (AXP) Takes POINT.ME's Help to Ease Reward Flight Search

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American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) recently collaborated with the points and travel reward search platform, point.me, to roll out a complimentary service, “point.me for Membership Rewards points”. The offering tends to ease the booking of flights using points earned by the Card Members from AXP’s Membership Rewards program.  

Card Members are required to visit the point.me/amex website to avail the benefits of the lucrative service.

The point.me platform provides a hassle-free experience to eligible Card Members to look and compare reward flight options offered by more than 150 airline companies. Upon finding a suitable one, Card Members can redeem and transfer their Membership Rewards points and get access to booking instructions.

Therefore, the ulterior motive behind the latest move remains to incorporate new options within American Express’ card offerings, thus catering to the evolving needs of a global consumer and commercial customer base. With a streamlined flight booking experience, planning for business travel or a family vacation can be made well in advance. With this move, the company can attract new clients as well as retain high-spending and creditworthy Card Members.

AXP resorts to various incentives, such as Membership Rewards and Amex Offers programs, cash-back reward features, interest rates offered on deposits and participation in loyalty programs, as a means to boost card spending and enhance customer engagement. The investments that American Express incurs in the rewards, marketing and other programs are derived from revenues generated by high-spending Card Members and the annual card fees that AXP charges on some of its products.

The facility of streamlined reward flight option search, thanks to point.me, is expected to result in the increased utilization of American Express’ card offerings and serve as a means to boost card spending. This, in turn, is likely to contribute to AXP’s top line since the company primarily generates revenues from card spending activities. Efforts to infuse new benefits or enhance existing ones within card offerings are of utmost importance as the card-issuing business remains an important source of revenues for AXP. Management anticipates revenue growth between 9% and 11% in 2024.

Shares of American Express have gained 39.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s 23.6% growth. AXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the Finance space are AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc. (AMK - Free Report) , First Bank (FRBA - Free Report) and Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR - Free Report) , each currently sporting a a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of AssetMark Financial outpaced estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed the mark twice, the average surprise being 0.81%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMK’s 2024 earnings suggests an improvement of 13.5%, while the consensus mark for revenues suggests growth of 8.5% from the respective year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for AMK’s 2024 earnings has moved 3.2% north in the past 30 days.

First Bank’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 61.38%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FRBA’s 2024 earnings suggests an improvement of 7.9%, while the consensus mark for revenues suggests growth of 28.9% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for FRBA’s 2204 earnings has moved 5.4% north in the past 60 days.

The bottom line of Piper Sandler outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 34.37%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PIPR’s 2024 earnings suggests an improvement of 20.4%, while the consensus mark for revenues suggests growth of 10.4% from the respective year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for PIPR’s 2024 earnings has moved 9.1% north in the past 60 days.

Shares of AssetMark Financial, First Bank and Piper Sandler have gained 23.2%, 20.1% and 55.2%, respectively, in the past year.

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