Operating globally, American Express Company and its affiliated entities deliver a comprehensive suite of charge and credit payment card solutions, alongside a ...
American Express Company, founded in 1850 as a freight forwarding company, has evolved into a global payments and financial services leader. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates through three primary segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. It provides a comprehensive ...American Express Company, founded in 1850 as a freight forwarding company, has evolved into a global payments and financial services leader. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates through three primary segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. It provides a comprehensive suite of payment products, including charge and credit cards, as well as digital payment solutions, travel and lifestyle services, and business expense management tools. For merchants, American Express offers acquiring, processing, settlement, and fraud prevention services, along with marketing and loyalty programs. The company serves individuals, small and mid-sized businesses, and large corporations through various channels including mobile and online platforms, third-party partnerships, direct mail, and dedicated sales forces. With a workforce of over 76,000 employees, American Express is known for its premium brand and customer service, and it maintains strong financial performance with a market capitalization of over $229 billion. The company has a long history of innovation, having introduced the first charge card in the 1950s and continuing to lead in digital payments and customer loyalty. Key financial metrics show a solid return on equity, robust free cash flow, and a strong balance sheet, with a focus on maintaining high credit quality and risk management. The company's leadership, under CEO Stephen Squeri, continues to drive growth through technology, partnerships, and a customer-centric approach, while planning to expand its global reach and enhance its product offerings. American Express is committed to diversity, inclusion, and sustainability, as reflected in its corporate culture and strategic initiatives.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$80.5B
+8.4%
+3.4%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$10.8B
+7.0%
+4.7%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+83.2%
+1.6%
+1.6%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
+17.1%
-1.3%
+36.8%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
+13.5%
-1.4%
+1.2%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$16.0B
+31.8%
+68.5%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
+19.9%
+21.6%
+62.9%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
172.5%
+2.2%
-3.1%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
0.28x
+6.7%
+338.1%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator : Welcome to the American Express Q2 2026 Earnings Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Kartik Ramachandran, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Kartik Ramachandran : Thank you, and thank you all for joining today's call. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about the company's future business and financial performance. These are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation slides and in our reports on file with the SEC. Today's discussion also contains non-GAAP financial measures. Comparable GAAP financial measures are included in this quarter's earnings materials as well as the prior period earnings materials discussed today. All of these are posted on our website at ir.americanexpress.com. We will begin today with Steve Squeri, Chairman and CEO; followed by Christophe Le Caillec, Chief Financial Officer. After their remarks, we'll move to Q&A. With that, I'll turn it over to Steve.
Stephen Squeri : Thank you, Kartik. Good morning, and thanks for joining us today. We delivered another excellent quarter with 10% revenue growth and EPS of $4.53. Our results continue the momentum we've seen over the last few quarters and reinforce the confidence that we have in our strategy for sustaining long-term growth. Based on our better-than-expected performance year-to-date, we are raising our full year revenue growth guidance to 10%, and we plan to reinvest this outperformance in growth initiatives across our business. We continue to expect full year EPS of $17.30 to $17.90. I'm sure the question on your minds right now is if you're outperforming your expectations, and you are raising your revenue guidance, why aren't you also raising EPS guidance? I'll answer it. We have a choice. We can either drop the overperformance to the bottom line and buy back more shares or we can invest to grow the business further through the wide range of attractive growth opportunities we have across our business, both in the U.S. and international. We've chosen the latter. Because in the long run, it is the one that creates the most value for our shareholders as demonstrated by our high ROE. That is what we have consistently done over the past several years. As we're at the halfway point of the year, let me take a step back and walk you through how we approach this year and how our results reflect the strength of our business model and the strategic decisions we've made to position the company for long-term success. Over a year ago, consistent with our strategic focus on strengthening our leadership in the premium space, we made the decision to make a significant investment in enhancing our flagship Platinum products in the U.S. While I've said this before, it's worth repeating. When we invest in a product refresh, we expect to …
