American Express Co Earnings - Q3 2026 Analysis & Highlights
Amex reported strong revenue and EPS growth, resilient customer spending and credit, higher shareholder returns, and continued investment in premium products, AI, and commercial capabilities, while reaffirming revenue guidance and raising its EPS outlook.
Key financial results
Q3 revenue was $20.1 billion, up 9% year over year; growth would have been about one percentage point higher excluding small-business co-brand portfolio exits.
GAAP EPS was $5.42, up 31%; adjusted EPS was $4.68, up 13% after excluding the Global Business Travel Group gain and restructuring charge.
The Global Business Travel Group investment sale added $1.11 per share, while restructuring reduced EPS by $0.37 per share; adjusted EPS also included legal-reserve expense, a discrete tax benefit, and a CECL-model benefit that together had no meaningful net impact.
Net interest income grew 10%, faster than balances, while net card fees rose 17% on an FX-adjusted basis.
Operating expenses fell 3% as reported; excluding the GBTG gain, restructuring, and legal items, underlying operating expense growth was 3%.
Business segment results
U.S. consumer spend grew 9.4%, which management said was the third-highest quarterly growth rate in three years; Platinum portfolio spend retention was 99% one year after the refresh.
Commercial spend grew 3%, or 5% excluding co-brand portfolio exits, for a second consecutive quarter at that adjusted rate; management cited strong uptake of the Graphite card.
International spend grew 11%; management noted 22 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.
By category, T&E spend rose 10%, airline spend rose 13%, and restaurant spend rose 9%; goods and services grew 7%.
No segment revenue or segment profit figures were provided in the discussion; management emphasized spend trends across consumer, commercial, and international businesses.
Capital allocation
Amex returned $2.2 billion to shareholders in Q3: $1.6 billion in share repurchases and $0.6 billion in dividends.
The company ended the quarter with a 10.9% CET1 ratio, reflecting the GBTG sale gain.
Management described restructuring and continued investment in marketing, technology, risk, and controls, but did not provide a Q3 capital-expenditure figure.
Industry trends and dynamics
Management described customer behavior as similar to the prior year, with consistent spend growth—particularly in T&E—high retention, and strong credit performance.
Amex said agentic transaction volumes remain small, while AI is changing how consumers and businesses discover, compare, decide, pay, and manage finances.
Merchant acceptance reached more than 190 million locations globally, up from 160 million a year earlier; locations accepting Amex outside the U.S. more than doubled over four years.
Amex said surcharging is already common at small businesses and has not appeared to affect competitors’ business, though management characterized it as a poor consumer experience.
Competitive landscape
Management said competition in premium cards remains intense and has been so for years, naming Citi, Capital One, and Chase as participants; it said Amex continues to invest and is obtaining the share of revenue it seeks.
Amex identified Ramp and Brex as major competitors in the commercial middle-market segment, particularly around automation and expense management.
Management cited Amex’s closed-loop network, first-party data, brand, service, security, and membership value as differentiators.
On network partnerships, management described a shift away from pursuing large-bank partnerships toward deals with smaller and mid-sized banks and specific partners, citing Synchrony and Bread Financial.
Macroeconomic environment
The call did not provide a specific outlook on inflation, tariffs, recession, or the broader business cycle; management instead described customer behavior as consistent and highlighted continued spend growth and strong credit performance.
Growth opportunities and strategies
Amex is applying AI across value propositions, customer acquisition, engagement, payments, and servicing, with the aim of improving personalization, attracting customers, supporting spending, and making service more effective.
Examples include an Amex partnership with Airbnb bringing more than 1 million listings into Amex Travel, Resy discovery and reservations in ChatGPT, a planned Amex Offers plugin, AI travel-planning tools, and AI tools for eligible business card members.
For agentic payments, Amex is developing capabilities to authenticate agents and customer intent, secure transactions, and extend purchase protection to eligible purchases when registered agents make mistakes.
Management said it will take a risk-based approach to AI access, allowing agents through approved API or MCP channels and seeking to protect customers, merchants, and a consistent membership experience.
Amex is investing in commercial capabilities, including its Center acquisition, the Nova platform, Business Savings, Corporate Cashback, and expense-management features, with plans to extend products and services to more existing customers.
The company took a $336 million restructuring charge, expected to eliminate approximately 5% of global positions, to streamline operations and increase capacity for business priorities.
Financial Guidance and Outlook
Amex reaffirmed full-year revenue growth guidance of 10% and raised reported EPS guidance to $18.30–$18.60 and adjusted EPS guidance to $17.60–$17.90.
Management said the company remained on track for another year of 10% revenue growth and mid-teens EPS growth.
For Q4, management expects VCE dollar growth to moderate significantly as the company laps the prior-year Platinum refresh, with the VCE-to-revenue ratio expected to stabilize in a similar range.
Management did not provide 2027 guidance on the call, but said the VCE outlook supports its continuing mid-teens EPS ambition; it planned to provide 2027 guidance in January.
Management said ongoing risk-and-control investments are already in the run rate and are not expected to affect 2027 guidance.
