American Express tops profit estimates as wealthy cardholders keep spending

American Express delivered a sharp first-quarter profit beat, but the deeper message was less about one quarter of strong results than about a consumer economy split in two. The company earned $4.28 per share in the three months ended March 31, above the $4.02 estimate and up from $3.64 a year earlier, as revenue climbed 10% to $18.9 billion.

The numbers point to a customer base still willing to spend on travel and discretionary purchases, even as higher interest rates, inflation and more expensive gasoline strain many households. Total billed business, a key measure of spending on AmEx cards, rose 9% on a foreign-exchange adjusted basis to $428 billion. Luxury retail spending jumped 18%, while overall retail spending increased 11%, according to chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec. Chief executive Stephen Squeri said cardmember spending grew 9% FX-adjusted, the fastest quarterly pace in three years.

That resilience matters because American Express serves as an early read on affluent consumers, whose spending often holds up longer than that of middle-income households. The company’s premium-heavy mix gives it insulation from the first waves of economic stress, making its results a useful contrast with the pressure many retailers and consumer brands still face in the broader market. American Express also set aside $1.3 billion in consolidated provisions for credit losses, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier, suggesting management is still monitoring whether that strength can last.

American Express kept its full-year 2026 guidance unchanged, reaffirming revenue growth of 9% to 10% and earnings of $17.30 to $17.90 per share. The company said it acquired 3.1 million new cards in the quarter, and more than 70% of new card accounts globally were fee-paying products, underscoring how much of its growth remains concentrated in premium offerings. First-quarter marketing expense was $1.5 billion, flat from a year earlier, while full-year marketing spend is expected to rise in the mid-single digits as the company continues to court younger and affluent customers.

Founded in 1850 and headquartered in New York, American Express describes itself as a global payments and premium lifestyle brand built on a closed-loop network and no pre-set spending limit capability. That model gives it unusually rich first-party spending data, and in this quarter it showed a familiar pattern: affluent households are still spending freely, even as the rest of the consumer economy looks more uneven.