LIVE
AXP
American Express Company · Financials
$338.00
+9.28% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
V
Visa Inc. · Financials
$327.24
-0.81% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
AXP
3
V
2
Comparison scoreboard
AXP LEADS 3/5AI Score
AXP ✓52.5
V 49.8
1Y Return
AXP ✓+15.43%
V -8.55%
Fwd P/E
AXP ✓16.15
V 21.69
Target Up.
AXP +11.22%
V ✓+23.71%
Op. Margin
AXP 21.25%
V ✓67.35%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
AXP vs V Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
American Express and Visa are both payments franchises but operate very differently: Visa is a pure-play transaction processing network with no credit risk and near-zero marginal cost of transactions, while American Express is a vertically integrated payments and lending company that takes credit risk in exchange for closed-loop data advantages and premium positioning. Visa is higher quality but trades at a premium; AXP grows faster in premium spending cycles but carries more cyclical risk.
Visa is the higher-quality, lower-risk payments franchise for long-term holding; American Express is the better choice if an investor wants exposure to premium consumer spending with greater earnings leverage and card fee monetization.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
AXP holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. AXP leads on both 1-year return (+15.43%) and forward P/E (16.15x vs 21.69x for V), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. V leads on both revenue growth (17.10%) and operating margin (67.35%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for V (+23.71%) than for AXP (+11.22%).
Normalized 1Y performance
AXP
V
Recent returns
AXP
V
Analyst price targets & sentiment
AXP · 26 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.5/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$240.00
analyst high$371.00
analyst mean$361.94
current price$338.00
+11.2% upside to analyst mean
V · 40 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.7/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$289.00
analyst high$425.00
analyst mean$398.83
current price$327.24
+23.7% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
AXP may suit investors who:
- →want exposure to premium consumer spending and affluent cardholder economics
- →value the closed-loop network's data and merchant relationship advantages
- →are comfortable with credit risk in exchange for higher earnings leverage to spending growth
- →believe premium card fee increases and Millennial acquisition will sustain above-average billed business growth
V may suit investors who:
- →prefer zero-credit-risk payment processing with structural growth from cash digitization
- →value the dominant global network with acceptance at virtually every merchant worldwide
- →want predictable, high-margin revenue growing in line with global consumer spending
- →are willing to pay a premium multiple for the highest-quality payments franchise
Performance & AI score
| Metric | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 52.5 | 49.8 |
| AI rank | #325 | #483 |
| Latest close | $338.00 | $327.24 |
| 1M return | +9.28% | -0.81% |
| 6M return | -10.01% | -4.99% |
| 1Y return | +15.43% | -8.55% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.4K (+14.0%) started 2025-06-18 | $9.61K (-3.9%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $22.69K (+126.9%) started 2021-06-21 | $14.82K (+48.2%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $70.86K (+608.6%) started 2016-06-20 | $48.05K (+380.5%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $222.06B | $613.1B |
| Trailing P/E | 20.33 | 28.08 |
| Forward P/E | 16.15 | 21.69 |
| Price/Sales | 3.42 | 18.85 |
| EV/Revenue | 3.32 | 14.37 |
| Analyst target | $361.94 | $398.83 |
| Target upside | +11.22% | +23.71% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 11.60% | 17.10% |
| Earnings growth | 17.60% | 35.50% |
| EPS growth | +17.60% | +35.50% |
| FCF margin | N/A | +48.43% |
| Operating margin | 21.25% | 67.35% |
| Profit margin | 16.30% | 51.68% |
| ROIC proxy | 34.42% | 60.35% |
| Return on equity | 34.42% | 60.35% |
| Dividend yield | 1.17% | 0.83% |
| Beta | 1.06 | 0.77 |
| Debt/equity | 177.85 | 67.23 |
| Current ratio | 1.57 | 1.09 |
| Quick ratio | 1.56 | 0.67 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
AXP max drawdown24.06%
V max drawdown17.65%
AXP max wkly drop10.77%
V max wkly drop8.30%
5Y risk snapshot
AXP max drawdown31.55%
V max drawdown28.60%
AXP max wkly drop18.20%
V max wkly drop11.76%
10Y risk snapshot
AXP max drawdown49.64%
V max drawdown36.36%
AXP max wkly drop25.58%
V max wkly drop16.49%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +14.03% | -3.86% |
| CAGR | +14.05% | -3.87% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.46 | -0.29 | |
| Max drawdown | 24.06% | 17.65% | |
| Max daily drop | 7.88% | 4.50% | |
| Max wkly drop | 10.77% | 8.30% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +115.53% | +43.84% |
| CAGR | +16.63% | +7.55% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.52 | 0.24 | |
| Max drawdown | 31.55% | 28.60% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.97% | 7.74% | |
| Max wkly drop | 18.20% | 11.76% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +517.51% | +350.45% |
| CAGR | +19.98% | +16.25% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.59 | 0.56 | |
| Max drawdown | 49.64% | 36.36% | |
| Max daily drop | 14.82% | 13.55% | |
| Max wkly drop | 25.58% | 16.49% |
Business comparison
| Category | AXP | V |
|---|---|---|
| Company | American Express Company | Visa Inc. |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Credit Services | Credit Services |
| Core business | American Express operates a closed-loop payment network combining card issuance and merchant acquiring, differentiating it from Visa's open network. AXP earns revenue from merchant discount rates, card fees (rising via premium card refreshes), and net interest income on its lending portfolio. Its affluent cardholder base — with higher average spending and lower credit losses than mass-market card issuers — supports superior monetization per account. American Express Millennial and Gen Z card acquisition has been a multi-year strategic priority. | Visa operates the world's largest payment network, processing transactions between financial institutions, merchants, and consumers without taking credit risk — it earns a small fee on each transaction flowing through its network. Its revenue scales with global payment volume and cross-border transactions, giving it a structurally growing business as cash payments convert to digital. Visa's open-loop model means it relies on issuing banks (JPMorgan, Chase, Bank of America) to build the cardholder relationship. |
| Investor focus | Investors track billed business volume growth (spending on cards), card fee revenue growth (premium card refreshes adding annual fees), net interest income, and credit quality metrics including write-off rates on its lending book. | Investors track payment volume growth (domestic and cross-border), cross-border transaction revenue as a higher-fee category, and whether new payment flows (B2B, real-time payments) are being captured in Visa's network rather than bypassing it. |
AXP strengths
- →Closed-loop network enables proprietary data on both cardholders and merchants, enhancing targeting
- →Premium card fee revenue growing as Platinum and Gold card refreshes add benefits and raise fees
- →Millennial and Gen Z card acquisition building long-duration relationships with high-value customers
V strengths
- →No credit risk on its balance sheet — pure fee-per-transaction revenue with no loan losses
- →Dominant global acceptance footprint making Visa the default payment credential for billions of consumers
- →Cross-border transactions generate higher-margin fees, benefiting from international travel recovery
Risks to watch — AXP
- →Holds credit risk on its lending portfolio unlike Visa, creating sensitivity to consumer credit quality
- →Merchant acceptance is narrower than Visa/Mastercard despite significant network expansion
- →Premium travel spending could be more cyclical than mass-market discretionary categories
Risks to watch — V
- →Regulatory and antitrust scrutiny of interchange fees in the US and globally
- →Real-time payment networks (e.g., FedNow, Zelle, UPI) could bypass Visa for certain transaction types
- →Merchant surcharging and acceptance fee negotiations create interchange pricing pressure
Frequently asked questions
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