American Express Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Rising Network Volume

American Express Company AXP reported third-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $4.14, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.6%. The bottom line climbed 19% year over year.

Total revenues, net of interest expense, amounted to $18.4 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.4%. The top line improved 11% year over year in the quarter under review.

The strong third-quarter 2025 results benefited from growing Card Member spending and a premium customer base. Rising revolving loan balances and continued robust card fee growth aided its performance. The results were partially offset by escalating customer engagement and operating costs.

American Express Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

American Express Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American Express Company Quote

AXP’s Q3 Operational Performance

Network volumes of $479.2 billion rose 9% year over year in the third quarter, driven by higher U.S. consumer spending. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%. Total interest income of $6.6 billion increased 8% year over year and surpass the consensus mark by 3.4%. Provision for credit losses fell 5% year over year to $1.3 billion, benefiting from lower reserve build.

Total expenses increased 10% year over year to $13.3 billion due to higher operating expenses and an elevated customer engagement cost level, which resulted from expanding Card Member spending and usage of travel and lifestyle-related benefits.

AXP’s Q3 Segmental Performances

The U.S. Consumer Services segment’s pre-tax income of $1.9 billion improved 12% year over year in the third quarter and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.5%. Total revenues, net of interest expenses, climbed 11% year over year to $8.9 billion. Growth in the customer base of Gen-Z and Millennials also favored this segment’s results.

The Commercial Services segment recorded a pre-tax income of $1.1 billion in the quarter under review, which increased 20% year over year from the prior-year figure and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $915.5 million. Total revenues, net of interest expense, amounted to $4.3 billion, which grew 7% year over year, driven by an increase in net interest income. The reported figure beat the consensus mark by 4.3%.

The International Card Services segment reported a pre-tax income of $441 million in the third quarter, which decreased 3% year over year but beat the consensus mark of $350.9 million. Total revenues, net of interest expense, improved 14% year over year to $3.3 billion but missed the consensus mark of $3.4 billion.

The Global Merchant and Network Services segment’s pre-tax net income of $1 billion rose 5% year over year in the quarter under review but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.1 billion. Total revenues, net of interest expense, increased 7% year over year to $2 billion.

Corporate and Other incurred a pre-tax loss of $598 million in the third quarter, narrower than the prior-year quarter’s loss of $809 million.

Balance Sheet (As of Sept. 30, 2025)

American Express exited the third quarter with cash & cash equivalents of $54.7 billion, up from $40.6 billion at 2024-end. Total assets of $297.6 billion rose from $271.5 billion at 2024-end.

Long-term debt amounted to $57.8 billion, up from $49.7 billion at 2024-end. Short-term borrowing was $1.4 billion.

Shareholders’ equity of $32.4 billion improved from $30.3 billion at 2024-end. Return on average common equity was at 37.3%, above the year-ago level of 35.3%.

Capital Deployment Update

American Express bought back 7 million common shares in the third quarter of 2025 for $2.3 billion and paid $600 million worth of dividends. In the quarter under review, the company paid a per-share dividend of 82 cents.

AXP’s 2025 Outlook

American Express now anticipates revenues to increase between 9% and 10% in 2025 from the 2024 level of $65.9 billion. Management now expects EPS in the range of $15.20-$15.50, above the previously projected band of $15.00-$15.50, the midpoint of which indicates an improvement of 9.6% from the 2024 level of $14.01.

AXP’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

AXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are State Street Corporation STT, United Fire Group, Inc. UFCS and Janus Henderson Group plc JHG, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for State Street’s current-year earnings of $9.99 per share has witnessed one upward revision in the past seven days against none in the opposite direction. State Street beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 6.6%. The consensus estimate for current-year revenues is pegged at $13.8 billion, implying 5.3% year-over-year growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for United Fire Group’s current-year earnings of $3.03 per share has witnessed one upward revision in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. United Fire Group beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 111.5%. The consensus estimate for current-year revenues is pegged at $1.4 billion, calling for 9.5% year-over-year growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Janus Henderson Group’s current-year earnings is pegged at $3.76 per share and has witnessed one upward revision in the past seven days against no movement in the opposite direction. Janus Henderson Group beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 10.5%. The consensus estimate for current-year revenues is pegged at $2.7 billion, calling for 9.5% year-over-year growth.

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