American Express price target raised to $265 from $260 at Monness Crespi

Monness Crespi analyst Gus Gala raised the firm’s price target on American Express to $265 from $260 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Despite a strong EPS print that beat consensus, revenue missed by about 1.7% and management declined to flow through the earnings beat into the full year guidance, which the firm believes is due to management engaging in further marketing spend funded by core operations, rather than letting the excess flow through to the bottom line, and building potential buffer for discretionary spend softening at the margins. The incremental marketing extends Amex’s growth runway via both deepening of customer relationships and feeding of new spenders to the brand, the analyst contends.