American Express On Firm Footing (AXP)

Analysts at Citigroup Global Markets have reiterated a Buy rating on American Express (NYSE: AXP) with a price target of $48.

American Express reported a Q4 EPS from continuous operations of $0.59 beating consensus estimates of $0.57. Billed business growth was healthy at 8% on a year on year basis with improving month on month trend. Latin American markets were especially encouraging. American Express was aggressive in its marketing spends, however this increased marketing expenditure was offset by a reserve release. The analysts do not expect any major negative or positive surprises in the coming quarter.