MW Amex sees strong travel and luxury spending as affluent customers open their wallets

By Emily Bary

The company is also boosting its dividend by 16%

Amex recorded $19 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter.

American Express on Friday posted steady growth in spending for its fourth quarter, as cardholders leaned into retail and travel purchases.

Spending by cardmembers increased 8% in the December quarter, after currency adjustments, the same growth rate seen in the September quarter.

CFO Christophe Le Caillec noted "strength across the board," including a 10% boost to retail spending. The trend was even more pronounced in the luxury market, where Amex $(AXP)$ cardholder spending was up 15%.

Cardholders are "enjoying life," and getting ready to travel. While the fourth quarter is typically slower in terms of travel bookings, Amex saw 30% growth there this time around, which Le Caillec credited to the company's refresh of its Platinum card "value proposition," as well as a new travel app.

The average age of a new Platinum card member is 33, and the average age of a new Gold card member is 29. There's "a lot of momentum behind millennials and Gen Z," which "gives us a long runway to work with," Le Caillec told MarketWatch.

See also: Mastercard's stock rises as earnings send an upbeat message about spending

In the fourth quarter, consolidated provisions for credit losses held steady relative to the year before, at $5.3 billion versus $5.2 billion for the same period a year earlier. On a full-year basis, Amex's (AXP) net write-off rate was 2%, flat relative to its 2024 level.

"As demonstrated in our results, our investments are paying off - driving increased customer demand, engagement and loyalty, while generating efficiencies across the enterprise and supporting our excellent credit performance," CEO Stephen Squeri said in Friday morning's earnings release.

Amex delivered $19 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, while analysts tracked by FactSet had been looking for $18.9 billion. Earnings per share amounted to $3.53, a penny below the consensus view.

For 2026, the company expects 9% to 10% growth in revenue, as well as $17.30 to $17.90 in earnings per share. The FactSet consensus calls for $78.7 billion in 2026 revenue, almost 9% above what Amex posted for 2025. On earnings per share, analysts have been modeling $17.43 for the current year.

Amex also announced a 16% boost to its quarterly dividend, which will lift that payout to 95 cents from 82 cents. At Thursday's closing price, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.06%, which is above the yield on Mastercard's stock $(MA)$ of 0.64% and on Visa shares (V) of 0.81%.

Mastercard and Visa both reported healthy spending growth as well in their own earnings reports Thursday. After Visa's report, Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams wrote that the "overall message on strength of the consumer remains consistent with steady growth across spend bands."

"Affluent is still the highest growth band, but low-end has not seen any deterioration," he added.

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-Emily Bary

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January 30, 2026 08:04 ET (13:04 GMT)

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