American Express reported strong second-quarter earnings on Friday, with profits rising 8 percent as the credit card giant benefited from increased spending among its affluent cardholders and a healthier credit environment with fewer borrowers falling behind on payments.
The New York-based company earned $3.11 billion, or $4.53 per share, compared to $2.89 billion, or $4.08 a share, in the same period last year. The results topped Wall Street expectations, which had looked for earnings of $4.40 per share. Total revenues grew 10 percent to $19.6 billion.
The company’s success in the second quarter reflects a powerful combination of factors working in its favor. Card member spending increased 9 percent to $455.8 billion, marking the strongest growth in three years on a currency-adjusted basis. The average American Express customer spent $6,759 on their cards during the quarter, up from $6,393 a year earlier. At the same time, credit quality improved noticeably. Provisions for credit losses fell to $1.1 billion from $1.4 billion in the prior year period, and the net write-off rate remained flat at 2.0 percent year-over-year.
“Six months into the year, we’re seeing stronger momentum than we expected,” Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Squeri said. “The investments we made in our value propositions have driven accelerated spend and revenue growth.”
The spending patterns paint a picture of economic resilience among American Express’s core customer base. The company continues to benefit from global economic growth that has disproportionately benefited the wealthy and high-net-worth individuals, a demographic that makes up the bulk of American Express’s customer base. Customers often put nearly all their spending on their American Express cards and pay them off at month’s end.
One significant bright spot has been the company’s success attracting younger customers. The company added 3 million new customers in the second quarter, with three-quarters of those new account holders signing up for cards with annual fees. Gen Z cardholders showed particularly strong growth, with spending rising 40 percent year-over-year. Millennial customers also demonstrated robust spending growth. Management reported that 65 percent of new consumer accounts came from Millennial and Gen Z customers, and about 70 percent of new consumer Platinum accounts outside the United States came from those younger generations.
This shift toward premium products has become central to the company’s strategy. The Platinum Card refresh launched in September of the prior year has emerged as the fastest-growing portfolio within American Express’s U.S. consumer business. International Platinum Card spending grew 20 percent on a currency-adjusted basis after the company refreshed the card in approximately 80 percent of the countries where it is issued.
However, American Express faces intensifying competition as other financial institutions develop premium card offerings. The company is spending heavily to maintain its position, with quarterly expenses rising 12 percent from a year ago. These costs reflect increased marketing as well as refreshes of its credit card products. American Express is competing for affluent customers against JPMorgan Chase’s Sapphire Reserve Card, Citigroup’s Strata card, and Capital One’s Venture X brand.
Looking ahead, the company raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 10 percent, but kept its profit outlook unchanged at $17.30 to $17.90 per share. This decision reflects management’s choice to reinvest strong first-half performance into growth initiatives rather than letting the outperformance drop to the bottom line. The company plans to increase marketing expense by about 10 percent year-over-year in the second half of 2026 and invest additional resources into technology, including artificial intelligence applications like many other major corporations.
American Express also announced it is increasing investment in customer acquisition and technology during the remainder of the year. The company said delinquency rates have remained below pre-pandemic levels, holding between 1.2 and 1.3 percent for more than three years. This reflects the company’s deliberate strategy of targeting high-credit-quality, premium customers who are better positioned to weather economic uncertainty.
The card network also announced a proposed acquisition of TheFork, a European restaurant booking platform operating across 11 countries with 50,000 restaurants. The company expects the deal to close subject to regulatory approvals and completion of a labor consultation process.