Wells Fargo transferred coverage of American Express with a Market Perform rating and raised its price target range for shares to $80-$83 from $78-$83. Wells says the stock's valuation is at the top of major credit card issuers, which it feels adequately reflects Amex's "superior return profile."

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."