UBS analyst Matthew Howlett downgraded American Express (AXP) to Sell saying his survey of U.S. Costco (COST) members and co-brand cardholders indicates the loss is a bigger deal than initially thought. Howlett now expects American Express to lose 8.1% of its cardmembers, 8.0% of its network volume and 18% of its loan portfolio after March 2016 due to the loss of the Costco contract. The analyst does not expect positive 2016 earnings growth for AmEx, which management has guided to be meaningful, nor does he expect the company to achieve its long-term earnings growth target in the next several years. Howlett cut his price target for shares to $67 from $81. American Express closed Friday up $2.09 to $74.59.

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Reports Q1 revenue $15.8B, consensus $14.86B. "We have started 2024 off strong, with our first-quarter results reflecting the positive trends we have seen in our business the last several years," said Stephen Squeri, chairman and CEO. "Revenue increased 11 percent from a year earlier to $15.8 billion and EPS increased 39 percent to $3.33. Our continued investments in our value propositions, marketing, brand and technology capabilities have helped drive high levels of engagement with our premium customers. Overall Card Member spending grew 7 percent on an FX-adjusted basis, with spending by U.S. consumer Card Members up 8 percent from a year earlier and spending in our International Card Services segment increasing 13 percent on an FX-adjusted basis. We continue to attract high-spending, high credit-quality customers to the franchise, with new card acquisitions accelerating sequentially to 3.4 million in the quarter. Our fee-based products accounted for around 70 percent of the new account acquisitions we saw in the quarter, and we continue to see strong demand from Millennial and Gen Z consumers, who accounted for over 60 percent of new consumer account acquisitions globally. Our credit metrics remain best in class. Based on our results to date and the trends we are seeing in our business, we continue to expect full-year 2024 revenue growth of 9 percent to 11 percent and EPS of $12.65 to $13.15."