Strong Travel Spending Drives Solid Q1 for American Express

Wide-moat American Express posted strong first-quarter results in line with our expectations as a continued recovery in travel spending and strong demand for its premium cards acted as tailwinds. Net revenue grew 29% to $11.7 billion while earnings per share came in at $2.73, a penny below last year’s quarter. That said, last year’s results are a difficult comparison as they benefited from a $1.05 billion release in credit reserves. There was nothing in the release to change our thesis for American Express, and we will maintain our $173 fair value estimate.