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American Express Co. easily topped revenue and earnings expectations for the fourth quarter Tuesday as it cited record levels of spending through its cards.
Shares surged 2.9% in premarket trading.
The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.72 billion, or $2.18 a share, up from $1.44 billion, or $1.76 a share, in the year-prior quarter. Analysts tracked by FactSet were modeling $1.86 a share in earnings.
American Express
AXP,
saw revenue net of interest expense increase to $12.15 billion from $9.35 billion. The company’s total came in ahead of the FactSet consensus, which called for $11.5 billion.
Chief Executive Stephen Squeri said in a release that the company saw “record levels” of spending on its cards. AmEx was also able to retain customers at higher levels than it did prior to the pandemic, per the release.
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The company expects to boost its quarterly dividend to 52 cents a share from 43 cents a share beginning with the first quarter of 2022, AmEx said in its release. The dividend increase is subject to board approval.
For the full year, AmEx anticipates revenue growth of 18% to 20% as well as earnings per share of $9.25 to $9.65. Analysts tracked by FactSet were projecting $9.70 a share in earnings for fiscal 2022.
In the long run, the company expects to generate annual revenue growth greater than 10% and EPS growth in mid-teens percentages “as the economy reaches a steady state,” Squeri said.
Shares of American Express have dropped 13% over the past three months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
has lost about 4%.
