Dow Jones payments giant American Express and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble posted mixed earnings early Friday. AXP stock retreated from record highs in trade. PG stock was little-changed, but closed below a key moving average within its current base.
Procter & Gamble on Friday reported adjusted earnings per share rose 5% to $1.93 in fiscal Q1 2025. Net sales ticked down 1% to $21.74 billion.
Earnings beat FactSet forecasts for $1.90 per share, but missed estimates for $21.95 billion.
Net sales for beauty products declined 5%, while baby, feminine and family care sales declined 2%. Net sales for grooming products were flat from last year. Sales for Procter's health care division rose 2%, while fabric and home care sales climbed 1%.
Procter & Gamble reported 2% organic sales growth for the quarter.
The Dow Jones manufacturer maintained its 2025 sales growth target range of 2%-4%. Procter forecasts its adjusted earnings to climb 5%-7% to $6.91 to $7.05 per share. The midpoint of $6.98 is just above consensus for $6.96, but that reflects Q1's 3-cent beat. Analysts forecast 2025 revenue rises about 2.5% to $86.13 billion.
PG stock ticked up to 171.28 Friday and closed just below its 50-day moving average.
Procter & Gamble is trading in a flat base with a 177.94 buy point, which matches its record high from Sept. 10. PG stock could have an early entry above Tuesday's high of 174.91.
The Dow giant stock has risen 16.9% in 2024.
American Express
American Express reported a 6% earnings gain to $3.49 per share adjusted, to beat FactSet expectations of $3.29. Revenue rose 8% to $16.64 billion, but fell short of views for $16.67 billion.
AmEx noted that Q3 card member spending increased 6%, while card fee revenue grew to 18%. American also added 3.3 million new card members during the quarter.
The payments giant increased its provision for credit losses to $1.4 billion, from $1.2 billion last year. For the third quarter, American Express reported a net write-off rate of 1.9% vs. 1.8% in Q3 2023 and 2.1% in Q2 2024 respectively.
American Express lifted its 2024 guidance on the news. The payments giant now expects earnings to range from $13.75 to $14.05, compared to its previous outlook of $13.30 to $13.80 per share. It maintained its revenue forecast for about 9% growth, which would equate to about $65.95 billion.
FactSet expects full-year earnings of $13.62 per share on $66.03 billion in revenue.
AXP stock retreated 3.2% Friday.
American Express shares are extended from a mid-July breakout.
The stock rallied nearly 48% this year and is trading near record highs.
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