American Express (AXP) ended the recent trading session at $375.61, demonstrating a -1.35% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 1.16%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.47%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 1.81%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had gained 11.77% outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 2.68% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.03%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of American Express in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $3.56, marking a 17.11% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $18.85 billion, reflecting a 9.73% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $15.41 per share and a revenue of $72.1 billion, signifying shifts of +15.43% and +9.32%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for American Express. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.13% downward. American Express is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, American Express is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.7. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 12.21.
Also, we should mention that AXP has a PEG ratio of 1.72. 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 0.78 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 74, this industry ranks in the top 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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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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