American Express (NYSE:AXP) reported fourth-quarter revenue that surpassed Wall Street expectations, driven by resilient spending from its premium cardmember base.
However, the New York-based payments giant saw its quarterly profit fall just a penny short of analyst projections as higher customer engagement costs and a refresh of its flagship Platinum cards weighed on the bottom line.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, American Express posted net income of $2.46 billion, or $3.53 per share.
This compared to a profit of $2.17 billion, or $3.04 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
While the year-over-year growth was substantial, the result narrowly missed the $3.54 consensus estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue for the period rose to $18.98 billion, topping the $18.82 billion forecast by analysts.
The growth was fueled by a 9% increase in cardmember spending and double-digit growth in net card fees, marking the 30th consecutive quarter of such gains.
Despite the revenue strength, expenses climbed 10% to $14.5 billion, reflecting increased investments in marketing and the costs associated with premium card benefits.
Looking ahead to 2026, American Express provided an optimistic outlook that helped soothe investor concerns over the slight earnings miss.
The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $17.30 to $17.90 per share, with revenue growth projected between 9% and 10%.
Additionally, the board announced plans to increase the quarterly dividend by 16% to $0.95 per share, starting in the first quarter of 2026.