American Express (AXP) closed at $361.92 in the latest trading session, marking a -2.28% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.35%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.45%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.14%.
The credit card issuer and global payments company's stock has climbed by 0.49% in the past month, falling short of the Finance sector's gain of 2.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.2%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of American Express in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect American Express to post earnings of $3.58 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 17.76%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $18.85 billion, up 9.73% from the prior-year quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $15.43 per share and a revenue of $72.1 billion, signifying shifts of +15.58% and +9.33%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for American Express. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.04% downward. American Express presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note American Express's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 12.55.
Investors should also note that AXP has a PEG ratio of 1.67 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry stood at 0.93 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, placing it within the top 28% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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American Express Company (AXP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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