Back to top

Image: Bigstock

American Express (AXP) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

American Express (AXP - Free Report) closed at $101.59 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.93% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.78%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.68%.

Coming into today, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had gained 8.34% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 5.39%, while the S&P 500 gained 9.15%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AXP as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.27, down 38.94% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.80 billion, down 19.9% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.20 per share and revenue of $36.39 billion, which would represent changes of -60.98% and -16.45%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AXP. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.17% higher. AXP currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, AXP is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 32.05. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.7, so we one might conclude that AXP is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that AXP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.59. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.45 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 212, putting it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Express Company (AXP) - free report >>

Published in