American Express share price up 1% on Q1 earnings revenue miss

American Express share price is up after a mixed earnings report. American Express Q1 earnings were up, but American Express Q1 revenue was weaker-than-expected.

American Express earnings:key figures

American Express share price up 1% as earnings revenue misses estimates

American Express Q1 earnings per share were $2.01, slightly above Wall Street estimates of $1.99. American Express Q1 revenue grew 7% to $10.36 billion, but still fell below predictions of $10.46 billion. The credit card company’s net income fell from $1.86 billion in spring 2018 to $1.55 billion. The corporation’s merchant and network services revenue was unchanged at $1.6 billion.

American Express chief executive officer (CEO), Stephen Squeri, spoke about the positive aspects of American Express’ Q1 profits. He spoke about the success of the company’s digital payments partnership with Paypal and increase in loans.

‘We continued to expand our merchant network and added 3.1 million new proprietary cards in the quarter driven primarily by our digital acquisition initiatives. Loan growth continued to be strong, and credit quality remained at industry-leading levels,’ said Squeri.

How did American Express Q1 results compare to banks with credit cards?

Compared to Citigroup’s Q1 earnings, American Express Q1 earnings were mixed as well. Citigroup had high earnings, but worse-than-expected revenue.

What’s next for American Express 2019 earnings?

After the mixed American Express Q1 results, the credit card company predicted an increase of 8-10% in 2019 revenue. American Express Q2 earnings per share are expected to be between $7.35- $8.35. That projection falls in line with financial analysts’ projection of $8.13. Squeri predicted that American Express earnings will increase with expansions of the corporation’s divisions.

‘Looking ahead, we continue to see a number of attractive growth opportunities across our businesses, and we're going to invest to take advantage of those opportunities in order to drive revenue growth over the moderate to longer term,’ said Squeri.

American Express Q1 profits continue mixed results for payment companies

American Express Q1 earnings are part of a pattern of strong earnings and weak revenue from banks and payment companies. American Express Q1 revenue was hurt by extra expenses of paying card member rewards. Despite high expenses, American Express Q1 earnings show that the company can still survive the advent of digital cards through strategic partnerships.