Amex job cuts hit 5% of staff as AI reshapes the card giant
American Express will eliminate about 5% of its global positions and book a $336 million charge, even as record revenue let it raise its full-year profit outlook.
Amex job cuts will reach about 5% of the company's positions worldwide. American Express disclosed the plan on Friday, Oct. 23, alongside third-quarter results, taking a $336 million restructuring charge that finance chief Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC is meant to make the lender "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI." The stock fell 3.7% on the day, according to Reuters.
What happened
The quarter itself was strong. Revenue hit a record $20.1 billion, up 9% from a year earlier, and reported earnings rose 31% to $5.42 a share, the company said in its earnings release. Stripping out a gain on the sale of its Global Business Travel Group stake and the restructuring cost, adjusted earnings were $4.68 a share, ahead of the $4.48 analysts expected, CNBC reported, citing LSEG. Revenue was a touch below the $20.12 billion consensus.
Card members kept spending. Billed business grew 8% on a currency-adjusted basis to $454.0 billion, and U.S. consumer spending rose 9.4%, according to the call transcript. The company set aside $985 million for credit losses, which included a $211 million reserve release, and returned $2.2 billion to shareholders.
American Express now expects reported 2026 earnings of $18.30 to $18.60 a share, up from $17.30 to $17.90, or $17.60 to $17.90 on an adjusted basis. Chief executive Stephen Squeri said the firm kept two-thirds of the travel-unit gain as profit and used part of the rest to fund the overhaul.
Why it matters
Squeri framed the cuts as a choice made from strength. "We've got good momentum, but to accelerate innovation and win over the next few years, we needed to become [a] more agile and efficient organization," he told analysts. Le Caillec said the aim is to remove management layers first, then automate the simpler processes that remain.
The company is not alone. Barclays confirmed on Thursday that it plans to cut 5,000 jobs, also about 5% of its staff, CNBC reported. Lenders are posting solid profits on resilient consumers and still trimming headcount, a pattern that showed up in our coverage of the KBW bank index's six-week winning streak.
Investors were less forgiving than the guidance suggested. The Amex job cuts landed on a day when the Dow lost 1.2% and other financial names slipped, extending a choppy run after the Dow's one-month high earlier in the week.
What's next
Squeri spent about ten minutes of his prepared remarks on artificial intelligence, focused on personalized offers and travel planning. He said outside AI agents will reach Amex systems only through approved API or MCP channels, adding that the company is "not going to let assistants run rogue through our system." It also released a developer kit for agent-led shopping and announced an exclusive travel partnership with Airbnb.
Regulation is the other open item. Squeri said the cost of meeting a recent consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which carried a civil money penalty, is not expected to affect 2027 guidance and that the orders impose no asset cap.
The full numbers are in the third-quarter earnings release. The next test for the Amex job cuts is whether savings show up in operating expenses, while growth in card member rewards costs should slow in the fourth quarter, once the year-ago U.S. Platinum Card refresh drops out of the comparison.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.