1 Unbeatable Reason American Express (AXP) Dominates as a Top Financial Stock Buy Right Now

Wall Street's sleeping giant just woke up—and it's charging full speed into 2026.

American Express isn't just riding the financial wave—it's creating it. While traditional banks grapple with legacy systems and regulatory headaches, Amex executes with surgical precision.

The secret? A payments ecosystem that prints money while competitors count pennies.

High-net-worth clients flock to Amex like crypto degens to a meme coin pump—except these customers actually have assets. Premium cardholders spend 3x more than typical bank customers, driving revenue that would make even Goldman Sachs blush.

Their closed-loop network cuts out middlemen, bypasses interchange fees, and captures data gold mines that would take rivals decades to replicate.

While fintech startups burn VC cash chasing 'disruption,' Amex quietly dominates the most profitable slice of the market—affluent consumers who actually pay their bills.

One financial jab? Traditional banks are still trying to figure out mobile payments while Amex members are booking private jets through their rewards apps.

This isn't your grandfather's credit card company—it's a financial technology powerhouse disguised as a plastic card provider. And it's just getting started.

American Express has prestige

What distinguishes Amex from other card processors, likeor, or the countless card issuers, is its exclusivity and cachet.

Image source: Getty Images.

All of the many Amex cards benefit from this elevated status. Cleverly, the company locks this in by offering some of the best perks of any card issuer. Even users of the most accessible Amex products can quickly earn bonuses for travel, merchandise, and other purchases. Note too how the company refers to its cardholders as "members," implying they're part of a select and prestigious group. It's almost as if they've earned some kind of higher rank in the world.

The company's Centurion card, familiarly known as the black card, is an invitation-only product for the highest spenders. Owning it confers not only a wide range of benefits -- 24/7 concierge services, anyone? -- and it grants the holder status and prestige unparalleled in the payment card world.

Powerful growth and robust profitability

With this, people want to own Amex's plastic, and to spend money with these hallowed instruments of commerce. Over the past five years alone, revenue has nearly doubled from just over $38 billion to more than $74 billion. Better, headline net income has tripled and then some over that stretch, from $3.1 billion to a bit north of $10 billion.

Meanwhile, Amex's rewards program continues to be second to none among card issuers. Exclusivity has its benefits for "members," but in this case, it also handsomely remunerates its purveyor.