Latest news with #ChristopheLeCaillec
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
American Express's Gen Z Customer Spending Grew by 40% From 2024
American Express Co. 's bet on Gen Z customers is paying off, with the segment accounting for around 5% of all US spending on the firm's cards and other products, Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec said. That Gen Z-driven transaction volume — known as billed business — also grew by 40% during the first three months of the year compared to same period a year ago, Le Caillec said Wednesday at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is American Express Company (AXP) the Best Dow Stock?
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) stands against other Dow stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a benchmark index of the top 30 companies in the US. It represents the strength of the US economy and carries great historical significance as well. It also acts as a reference point for analysts and investors. However, not all stocks within this elite group of companies perform equally. While some thrive on innovation and economic boom, others struggle due to various setbacks and economic trends. We decided to break down the index and find out the best and worst stocks, looking at what was making them perform unexpectedly this year. In order to come up with our ranking of the best and worst Dow stocks, we first assigned a rank to each stock based on the number of hedge funds holding the stock. We then looked at the short interest in each stock and assigned the top rank to the company with the least short interest. We then combined the two ranks to see which stock was the best on average. The list is in ascending order, with the best stock taking the number one spot. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A close-up view of a payment terminal, capturing the sophistication of a payment Interest as of Apr 30, 2025: 1.19% American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is an integrated payments company. The company operates in International Card Services, U.S. Consumer Services, Global Merchant and Network Services, and Commercial Services segments. Its products and services consist of charge card, network services, credit card, banking, travel and lifestyle services, and expense management products and services. The firm recently completed its acquisition of Center, a software company that helps manage expenses for small and medium-sized businesses. This acquisition will merge American Express Company's (NYSE:AXP) corporate and small business cards with the Center's expense management technology. With this integration, experiences and value for commercial customers will be improved. The company has also reaffirmed its full-year guidance for 2025. As per the guidance, management anticipates revenue growth of 8% to 10% along with the EPS ranging between $15 to $15.50. Management highlighted that these estimates assume a peak unemployment rate of 5.7%. CEO Stephen Squeri mentioned that early Q2 spending trends are reflecting first-quarter levels in all spending categories and customer segments. CFO Christophe Le Caillec highlighted consistency in consumer spending trends and credit performance. Overall, AXP ranks 18th on our list of best and worst Dow stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of AXP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AXP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
NBC News
17-04-2025
- Business
- NBC News
American Express's wealthy cardholders are mostly untouched by tariff jitters
American Express 's affluent cardmembers are showing few signs of curbing their spending, and younger customers drove growth in first-quarter transaction volumes, Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC. Billed business on AmEx cards rose 6% in the period, or 7% when adjusted for the impact of leap year, the company reported Thursday, which shows that the bump in spending late last year continued into 2025, according to Le Caillec. Those trends have continued into April, the CFO said, despite sharp declines in stocks this month amid concerns that President Donald Trump' s tariff policies will cause a recession. The dynamic, which helped AmEx top expectations for first-quarter profit, shows that the company's wealthier customer base may help to insulate it from concerns about tariffs and stubborn inflation. On the other end of the credit spectrum, Synchrony Financial, which offers store cards for dozens of popular retailers, has warned of a spending slowdown. 'There's a lot of stability and strength, despite the news and the environment,' Le Caillec said. Growth at AmEx came from younger cardholders, with millennial and Gen Z members spending 14% more in the quarter. Gen X and Baby Boomer cardholders showed more caution, registering 5% and 1% increases, respectively. Le Caillec said it's difficult to discern whether cardmembers were pulling forward purchases because of the looming tariffs, creating an artificial boost to purchase volumes, as JPMorgan executives said last week. But some small businesses may be doing so to build inventory because of concerns about the duties increasing costs, he added. Airline slump One category in particular gave Le Caillec confidence that the spending trends may be durable. 'Restaurant spend is up 8%,' the CFO said. 'This is the ultimate discretionary expense, it's not something you can bring forward, and so it's really a good indicator of the strength of our cardmember base and the confidence they have.' If there was a weak area besides the spending slowdown from older Americans, it was in airline transactions, according to the company's earnings presentation. The category grew just 3%, or 4% when adjusted for leap year, after climbing 13% in the fourth quarter. But while airlines, retailers and other corporations have pulled their earnings guidance on tariff uncertainty, AmEx was holding firm. It maintained its guidance for revenue growth of 8% to 10% and earnings of $15 to $15.50 per share this year, Le Caillec said. In the company's presentation, though, it added a new caveat to its guidance: 'Subject to the Macroeconomic Environment.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Shares of American Express Are Falling Today
Shares of the credit card and payments company American Express (NYSE: AXP) had fallen over 2% as of 1:41 p.m. ET today after management tempered investors' expectations about near-term top-line growth at an investor conference this morning. American Express CFO Christophe Le Caillec told investors at a conference that expectations for revenue in the first quarter of 2025 are "too high" right now. Wall Street analysts currently expect revenue net of interest expense to come in at close to $17.1 billion, according to data provided by Visible Alpha. Le Caillec attributed lower revenue growth due to there being one less day in the first quarter and a stronger dollar now than in December. Revenue net of interest expense grew 9% in the fourth quarter. Le Caillec did say that management is " ... very confident and very comfortable with the full-year guidance." A few weeks ago, management said it expects the company to generate between 8% to 10% revenue growth and earnings per share of $15 to $15.50 in 2025. Management also said it expects to increase the company's quarterly dividend by 17%. At over 20 times forward earnings, American Express doesn't trade at its most expensive historical valuation but is trading at elevated levels. The good news is the backdrop for financials has improved dramatically in recent months from a steepening yield curve to a consumer that is now looked upon with more strength by the market. American Express is also a proven company with a strong management team and business that includes a customer base that should be more resilient during recessions. I'm indifferent on the stock right now. I think the business will keep performing well and likely serve shareholders well long term, but there could be pullbacks in the near future that investors may want to wait for as well. Before you buy stock in American Express, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and American Express wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $795,728!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 926% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 175% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list. Learn more » *Stock Advisor returns as of February 7, 2025 American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Shares of American Express Are Falling Today was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
