American Express Raises FY2026 EPS Guidance to $18.30-$18.60 After Record $20.1 Billion Quarter

American Express reported record third-quarter 2026 revenue of $20.1 billion, up 9% year over year, and raised its full-year earnings guidance alongside the results. The company now expects full-year diluted earnings per share of $18.30 to $18.60 on a GAAP basis, or $17.60 to $17.90 on an adjusted basis, according to the company's 8-K filing.

Record Revenue and a Second Guidance Raise

Third-quarter consolidated total revenues net of interest expense came in at $20.1 billion, up 9% from a year earlier. Pretax income rose to $4.53 billion from $3.83 billion, and net income climbed to $3.71 billion from $2.90 billion. Reported diluted EPS rose 31% to $5.42, while adjusted diluted EPS, which strips out a one-time gain and related restructuring charge, rose 13% to $4.68.

CEO Stephen J. Squeri tied the increase directly to the year-to-date trend, saying in the filing: "Given our performance year-to-date, we are raising our full-year EPS guidance to between $18.30 and $18.60 ($17.60-$17.90 adjusted), and we're on track to deliver another year of 10 percent revenue growth."

GAAP Versus Adjusted: What Actually Changed

The 8-K's own guidance table lays out the new ranges against the prior fiscal year's base: GAAP diluted EPS of $15.38 in fiscal 2025 is now guided to $18.30-$18.60, implying growth of 19% to 21% as stated in the filing. Adjusted diluted EPS is guided to $17.60-$17.90, implying growth of 14% to 16% versus the same base, per the same table.

That compares with the guidance American Express had been carrying since its second-quarter report, when, according to AlphaSense's earnings summary, the company said full-year EPS guidance was "maintained at $17.30 to $17.90, despite raising revenue guidance, as the company is reinvesting outperformance in growth initiatives." That summary does not specify whether the prior range was stated on a GAAP or an adjusted basis. Measured against those figures, the new adjusted floor of $17.60 is $0.30 higher than $17.30 (17.60 − 17.30 = 0.30), our calculation, while the $17.90 top end is unchanged. Read that way, the company narrowed the range from below rather than lifting the ceiling.

Credit Quality Improves as Provisions Fall

Consolidated provisions for credit losses fell to $1.0 billion from $1.3 billion a year ago. The company attributed the decrease to "a reserve release during the quarter compared to a reserve build in the prior year, partially offset by higher net write-offs," per the filing. Despite that write-off commentary, the actual net write-off rate improved: the third-quarter card member net write-off rate was 1.8%, down from 1.9% a year earlier, a decline of 0.1 percentage point, or roughly 5.3% in relative terms, our calculation based on the two reported rates.

Expenses Rise on Spending Growth and the Platinum Refresh

Consolidated expenses rose 9% to $14.5 billion. The filing attributes the increase primarily to "higher variable customer engagement costs due to increased Card Member spending and the U.S. Platinum Card refresh, partially offset by lower operating expenses." The decline in operating expenses mainly reflected the gain from the sale of American Express's equity stake in Global Business Travel Group (GBTG), partially offset by an increase in legal reserves for previously disclosed matters and restructuring costs.

On the card-fee side, the 8-K does not break out a third-quarter net card fee growth figure. The most recent public commentary on that metric comes from the second-quarter call, where, according to AlphaSense's summary, management said card fee growth was expected to accelerate in the third quarter and exit the year in the high teens, and described the U.S. Platinum repricing as a $200 fee increase with retention rates flat year over year and no observed attrition impact.

One-Time Items and Tax Rate Shaped the Headline Number

Results included a $982 million pretax gain ($751 million after tax) from the GBTG sale, part of which funded a $336 million pretax restructuring charge ($253 million after tax) tied to efficiency initiatives. Adjusted net income of $3.2 billion, or $4.68 per share, excludes both items. Separately, the effective tax rate fell to 18.1% from 24.1% a year earlier, which the company said primarily reflected discrete tax benefits from resolving certain prior-period tax items, a further lift to the reported EPS figure.

How the Quarter Compared With Street Expectations

How the Quarter Compared With Street Expectations

Bottom Line

American Express delivered adjusted earnings above prior Street estimates, with revenue of $20.1 billion essentially in line with the $20.12-$20.13 billion consensus figures cited by MarketBeat and Zacks. The quarter was aided by a lower credit provision, an improved net write-off rate, a large one-time gain from the GBTG sale, and a lower effective tax rate. Management raised the adjusted EPS floor to $17.60 from the $17.30 bottom of the range carried since the second quarter, left the $17.90 top end unchanged, and reiterated an expectation of roughly 10% full-year revenue growth. Investors weighing the headline 31% jump in reported EPS should note that a meaningful share of that increase traces to the one-time GBTG gain and the lower tax rate rather than to underlying operating leverage alone — an interpretation based on the filing's own disclosure of the $982 million pretax gain and the drop in the effective tax rate to 18.1% from 24.1%.