The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1026 ET - American Express's layoff announcement is the latest in a string of similar ones among other sizable companies this week. E-commerce platform eBay shared plans earlier this week to cut 9% of its employees, following a previous round of cuts announced this year. And earlier Friday, Swedish carmaker Volvo said it would slash about 6% of its workforce. Amex plans to cut about 5% of its global workforce. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0953 ET - American Express plans to cut about 5% of its global workforce, a plan that Chief Executive Stephen Squeri says is aimed at reducing layers and speeding up decision making. "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," Squeri says during a call with analysts. Squeri says the move will help the company's teams align on key focus areas, boost efficiency and invest further in its priorities, like adding more perks for its cardmembers. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0908 ET - American Express beat Wall Street's estimates for 3Q earnings and raised its full-year outlook. In short, "the headline is good," according to Truist analysts. But "the details are more mixed," Brian Foran and Erin Kim say. The company's guidance factors in a better-than-expected third quarter, rather than implying upside in the fourth quarter, and growth in its billed business is a little light, the analysts say. However, overall the company is growing its top line by 10% and its bottom line by 15%, which "doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world," they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0840 ET - American Express recorded $14.5 billion in total expenses in 3Q, up 9% year over year. The credit-card company attributed the rise to higher customer engagement costs, which it said was due to increased spending among its customers and the refresh of its U.S. platinum card, which has one of the highest annual fees of any Amex card. The expense growth was partially offset by lower operating expenses due to a gain from the sale of the company's equity interest in Global Business Travel Group. Amex sold that business in a $6.3 billion take-private deal to Long Lake Management this year.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0733 ET - European banks have made a muted start to earnings season, UBS analysts write. The eight banks covered by the Swiss group that have reported third-quarter results so far have missed expectations, with 1.1% less pretax profit than consensus forecasts in aggregate, UBS says. Of the six banks that missed on pretax profit, nearly all had lower income than forecast, while almost all beat on costs, the analysts say. UBS reduced its 2026 earnings per share estimates by 2% on average--and its 2027 estimates by 1%--for six banks. However, UBS still expects banks in the sector to report EPS rises of between 1% and 2% through the season as a whole. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)
0620 ET - European insurers are unlikely to see material changes to consensus expectations or guidance in the last quarter of 2026, with a quiet period expected, Barclays analysts write. Stable operating trends and lighter reporting means there is limited scope for major earnings surprises. Natural catastrophe losses should be higher in the third quarter, but still within budgets, the analysts say. "However the absence of large insured events could prove a double-edged sword for reinsurers in a softening property [catastrophe] environment." (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)
0540 ET - Barclays is performing robustly despite lower market revenue, Berenberg's Michael Christodoulou writes. The British bank is continuing to execute its strategy, while third-quarter results showed sequential improvements, the analyst notes. "Management's commitment on absolute cost targets is welcome and provides clarity by narrowing the range of outcomes and ensuring expanding operating leverage in outer years," Christodoulou adds. Berenberg remains confident that Barclays's return on tangible equity will continue to rise and exceed 15% by 2028, but the share price fails to capture this potential growth, he says. Shares are down 1.0%. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)
0511 ET - Zurich Insurance Group's potential challenges are already reflected in the stock price after underperforming against peers in the year to date, UBS analysts write. The Swiss insurer is well-positioned globally because it profits from strong U.S. growth while remaining based in stable Switzerland. "The operating margins are in good health throughout, with some structural growth drivers," the analysts add. These include artificial intelligence-impacted areas such as data centers and cyber. The company does face cyclical challenges in commercial and U.S. retail, UBS notes, but these are already reflected in the share price. UBS reinstates coverage of Zurich with a neutral recommendation on the stock and a target price of 620 Swiss francs. Shares are down 0.45% at 619.20 Swiss francs. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)
0425 ET - China's computing constraints are unlikely to deter its leading AI models from developing in pace with its U.S. rivals, according to Capital Economics' Nguyen Hoang Nam in a research note. While China's efforts to expand computing infrastructure remain hindered by U.S. restrictions on advanced chips, techniques like distillation, which uses the outputs of a powerful AI system to train a smaller model, reduces their computing needs, the China economist says. That said, these restrictions on chips will "make it harder for China to pull ahead in the AI race and could hinder the diffusion of AI across the economy," CE says. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0354 ET - The Monetary Authority of Singapore is likely to leave its policy settings unchanged in the near term, after September's core inflation rate came in softer than expected, Barclays economist Brian Tan says in a note. Core CPI rose 2.0% in September, compared to Barclays' forecast of 2.3%. The MAS is expected to shrug off future better-than-expected GDP growth unless core inflation re-accelerates or there are more signs of price pressures from the artificial intelligence boom or the Middle East conflict. While the MAS doesn't have an explicit inflation target, it views average core inflation just below 2% as consistent with overall price stability.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0353 ET - China is likely to be the key exception to Eastspring Investments' view that Asian central banks could tighten monetary policy over the next few quarters. China's deflationary pressures from declining property prices, and excess industrial capacity, could weigh on its inflation and growth, says the asset manager in a report. This could sustain pressure for further monetary policy easing in China over the next two quarters through its interest rates and subsidized credit facilities, Eastspring says. Meanwhile, higher-for-longer energy prices and currency weakness could spur central banks in India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan to tighten. Lower energy prices and renewed dollar weakness might allow regional monetary policy to stabilize, Eastspring adds, noting these could emerge around late 1Q-2Q next year. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0334 ET - European stock indexes are mixed in early trade, as higher oil prices weigh on the continent while earnings drive large individual moves. The continent-wide Stoxx 600 edges 0.1% lower, with defense, software and luxury sectors falling sharply. London's FTSE 100 falls 0.2% as industrials and miners slide, with Rolls-Royce down 2.4%. The German DAX drops 0.45% as autos drop--Mercedes-Benz Group is down 1.2%--while software giant SAP falls 1.7%. In Paris, the CAC 40 slides 0.5%, dragged by luxuries group Kering which falls 11% after its sales growth slowed. Italy's FTSE MIB falls 0.4% while the Spanish IBEX 35 trades flat. The Dutch AEX rises 0.2%.
