American Express is expected to report results around 24 October; that date is our estimate from its filing history, not a company announcement. Revenue over the twelve months to Q2 2026 was $43.09 billion, which rose 8.8% on the year before.
The trends going in
The growth rate of 8.8% was up 0.9 percentage points on the rate a quarter earlier. The trailing net margin was 26.6%, and net income over the twelve months was $11.45 billion, which rose 12.8% on the year before.
Cash flow
Operating cash flow over the twelve months was $18.48 billion, up 41.1% on the year before. Capital spending was $3.42 billion, or 7.9% of revenue, and free cash flow, operating cash flow less capital spending, was $15.05 billion, up 35.7% on the year before. The free-cash-flow margin was 34.9% of revenue, up 6.9 percentage points from a year earlier. The average diluted share count fell 2.3% over the year.
Against its own history
Today’s free-cash-flow margin of 34.9% is higher than 62% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from 2.0% to 61.2%. Today’s twelve-month revenue growth rate of 8.8% is higher than 77% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from −22.2% to 23.5%.
Questions this report will answer
Whether the pick-up in revenue growth continues and whether cash generation keeps pace with reported profit are questions this report will answer.
What it means for value
In our model, growth 5 percentage points lower would lower the value by 25.7%, and 5 percentage points higher would raise it by 33.4%. A free-cash-flow margin 1 percentage point lower would lower it by 3.0%.
