Earnings Previews: American Express (AXP)

Major financial stocks started off earnings season with a bang as companies like Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), and others have mostly made a positive showing so far. These companies showed a general theme of consumer spending remaining strong, which is an important insight for the last major company to post results this week: American Express (AXP). 

American Express saw a +50% surge to the upside from the tariff news announcement lows in April, recently notching all-time highs of 349.19. The Street is looking for earnings of $3.96 vs. $3.49 the previous year (+13.4%), and for revenue to come in at $17.99B against last year’s figure of $16.64B (+8.1%). Meanwhile, the Oct. 17 options expiration shows an expected move of about +/- $14.30 (4.3%).

AXP shares recently bounced off a supportive area near 315 after taking a -9.5% dip from the all-time highs in only 14 trading days. A -2.5% drop on Oct. 10 sent price beyond its recent lows, but things quickly stabilized and then translated into Tuesday’s +3.0% upside surge. This move sent price above a short-term downward trendline beginning with those same highs and pushed it above its 21-day Exponential Moving Average. This indicator comes in at about 329, which could be a short-term supportive area to consider. 

If shares continue to move higher, the obvious place that the bulls would set their sights would be the highs near 349. But the best close is 341.68, so this could be a more granular level to watch. Also, consider that the yearly Volume Profile study shows the next significant trading zone is around 340, which also lines up with the yearly +1 Standard Deviation Channel, so this presents a resistance confluence.

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