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American Express Inc. (AXP) Financials – Consumer Finance | Reports January 21, After Market Closes
Key Takeaways
Out after the bell we have the first in a series of consumer finance names that will be reporting over the next two weeks. For American Express, the Estimize community is expecting EPS of $1.16, 3 cents higher than Wall Street, but that figure has come down 12 cents since the end of the year. Revenue estimates of $8.54B have also fallen over 2% in that time.
Adding to what was a disappointing holiday shopping season, AXP also suffered major losses in 2015 when it announced in March that it was losing a long-time relationship with Costco. After several years as the exclusive credit card accepted at Costco, the retailer struck an alternative deal with Visa and Citigroup that will cut credit card fees close to zero. The partnership will not dissolve until March 31, 2016, but Amex has already said the loss would hurt the bottom-line for at least two years.
Another big blow to Amex is the recently announced dissolution of its Fidelity Investments partnership. The stock has fallen 7% since the news broke, and is down a whopping 24% since the Costco deal collapsed. Fidelity has now partnered with US Bancorp and Visa, a change that was made effective on January 11.
So far it looks like 2016 will mark another year of staunch competition among networks and lenders as they fight for deals that will bring in the highest volume of customers. The odds seem stacked against Amex for this quarterly report, but investors will be listening intently to tonight’s call, hoping plans are in motion to turn the rest of the year around.
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