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American Express key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, American Express had return on equity of 34.0% and a net margin of 15.0%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMSept 2026
Net margin8.7%14.6%16.5%14.2%16.3%17.2%15.7%15.2%7.5%17.2%15.5%8.7%19.0%14.2%13.8%15.4%15.0%15.8%
Return on equity16.9%25.8%26.3%23.8%27.9%29.3%25.0%26.1%14.2%34.1%29.8%13.6%35.7%32.1%31.7%34.7%34.0%35.4%
Return on assets1.7%3.0%3.3%2.9%3.5%3.8%3.2%3.4%1.6%3.7%3.5%1.6%4.2%3.6%3.4%3.8%3.8%4.0%
Effective tax rate24.8%32.0%29.6%30.5%32.1%34.5%35.0%33.2%63.0%14.8%19.8%27.0%24.6%21.6%20.3%21.5%21.5%20.8%
Dividends ÷ net income43.4%21.4%17.4%20.1%17.5%17.7%22.7%22.5%45.5%19.1%21.0%47.0%18.0%20.8%21.3%19.7%21.0%20.4%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Moat

64 /100

Moderate moat

How hard American Express's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 3 / 20

    Net income has been a median 3.6% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Durability 13 / 20

    Net margin has been a median 15.0%; its worst year was 8.9%.

  • Cash conversion 20 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 27.4% of revenue.

  • Discipline 20 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 14.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (70 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: AXP vs COFAXP vs SYFALLY vs AXP

More: Consumer Finance stocks compared, Financials sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from American Express's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 24, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to American Express.