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American Express (AXP) Stock Moves -1.68%: What You Should Know

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In the latest market close, American Express (AXP - Free Report) reached $254.31, with a -1.68% movement compared to the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 2.12%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.26%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had gained 14.49% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 7.46% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.78% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of American Express in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.25, down 1.52% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $16.65 billion, up 8.28% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $13.12 per share and revenue of $65.99 billion, which would represent changes of +17.04% and +9.04%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for American Express. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.57% upward. As of now, American Express holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, American Express is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.71. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 11.76 of its industry.

Meanwhile, AXP's PEG ratio is currently 1.45. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.06 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, placing it within the top 27% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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