New York, February 14, 2026, 17:04 EST — The market has closed.
- AXP dropped 1.6% to $337.50 on Friday, lagging a broader market that finished flat or slightly up.
- Howard Grosfield, an executive at AmEx, sold off 8,134 shares, according to a filing.
- No U.S. trading Monday, with Fed minutes set for release Wednesday.
American Express Company (AXP) dropped 1.57% on Friday, settling at $337.50 and stretching its losing streak to three sessions ahead of the U.S. market holiday. Trading volumes topped the usual pace. The stock now sits roughly 13% under its 52-week high.
Stocks inched up at the close, helped by January’s softer U.S. inflation readout that knocked Treasury yields lower and reignited chatter about rate cuts. “The U.S. CPI is now closer to the Fed’s long-term inflation target of 2% than it is to 3%,” said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion. Reuters
Payments stocks struggled. Visa dropped 3.12% on Friday, Mastercard shed 1.73%. Both weighed on the card-and-payments sector, even though the main indexes managed to steady.
Howard Grosfield, group president of U.S. consumer services at AmEx, unloaded 8,134 shares last Monday, pocketing $346.73 a piece, according to a late-Friday filing. After the sale, he held 9,433.089 shares directly, along with 98.7 more parked in the company retirement plan.
The stock lost roughly 4.7% between Thursday and Friday. Thursday’s session ended at $342.88, down 3.14%. On Friday, it slipped again, finishing at $337.50, historical pricing data show.
American Express doesn’t always move in lockstep with the payment networks. The company issues its own cards and operates its own network — that so-called “closed-loop” setup — unlike Visa and Mastercard, who mainly just process payments between banks. AmEx ends up more directly tied to changes in cardmember spending and shifts in credit quality.
Back on Jan. 30, the company outlined its 2026 outlook, guiding earnings per share between $17.30 and $17.90, and aiming for revenue growth in the 9% to 10% range. At the time, Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec told Reuters, “We’re not projecting any discontinuity,” and highlighted that younger customers were making up a bigger slice of spending. Reuters
Still, there’s a looming policy unknown for the sector. Back in January, President Donald Trump floated a 10% ceiling on credit card interest rates for one year. UBS Global analysts said making that happen would require “an Act of Congress.” J.P. Morgan’s Vivek Juneja didn’t sound convinced either, arguing the cap “would not address the root of the problem.” Reuters
Markets on the NYSE are off Monday for Washington’s Birthday—Presidents Day, as it’s more commonly known. Trading picks back up Tuesday.
Looking to the coming week, traders have their sights set on Wednesday’s 2:00 p.m. ET release of minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting, searching for clues on where policymakers stand on their next rate decision.
Looking ahead, American Express won’t report first-quarter results until April 24, when its earnings call is set. Investors are watching for shifts in spending behavior and clues on whether executives remain committed to the 2026 targets.
