By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares slipped by over 4% in Friday’s premarket as a revenue miss in the first quarter left traders disappointed, coming at a time when most financial services firms have posted solid earnings.
Revenues came at $9.06 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated them to hit $9.21 billion.
The credit card giant, whose business relies more than most on business travel, did manage to exceed quarterly profit estimates as it gained $675 million with the release of $1.05 billion in previously-booked provisions.
The lender had built reserves of $1.7 billion to safeguard its business from pandemic-related damages.
EPS of $2.74 was higher than the anticipated $1.6. Net income was $2.23 billion.
While the payments company reported a decline in spending on cards, it said it added 2.1 million new proprietary cards during the quarter.
“We’ve also seen an uptick across all categories of travel and entertainment spending in the U.S. in recent weeks, increasing our confidence that domestic consumer travel will continue to recover,” AmEx said in a filing.
At its Thursday close of $148.92, the stock wasn’t very far from its 52-week high of $151.42.