1. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 83
First Appeared In 13F Holdings: Q4 2010
Latest Stake: $45.8 billion
Payment card and travel services provider American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is perhaps Warren Buffett’s best-known stock pick. He first bought the shares in 1964 when the firm’s shares sank during the Salad Oil Scandal. Buffett then bought a stake in 1991 and continued in the 1990s. However, since then, it hasn’t done much with the stock. In Q4 2010, according to Insider Monkey’s data, Berkshire Hathaway held 151 million American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shares that were worth $6.5 billion. It still holds the same number of shares, and the stake’s latest value is $45.8 billion.
DBZ Bank discussed the firm on June 18th as it upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and set a $375 share price target. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)’s latest earnings report saw it report $18.91 billion in revenue, $3 billion in net income, and $4.28 in earnings per share. During the earnings call, the firm’s Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec outlined that its earnings were stronger than expected and gave it room to spend in marketing and technology.
Giverny Capital Asset Management discussed American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We used most of our Ametek proceeds to establish a new position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in March, at a price of $294. Probably many of you hold at least one American Express card. It’s one of the premier status brands in the world, with a customer base of prime borrowers who often pay hundreds of dollars a year for the privilege of earning lucrative rewards. Those same cardholders generally do not revolve loan balances, meaning Amex earns much more money from transaction fees and annual cardholder dues than it does in interest on monthly balances. It makes money because people transact with the card to earn rewards, not because they need to borrow money to make ends meet.
It is on my mind that we may be living in a time of peak affluence. I read recently that the United States now has more than 430,000 households with a net worth above $30 million. Simultaneously, the federal government is running irresponsible budget deficits, many college-educated young people can’t get career-track jobs or afford housing, AI may threaten the future of white-collar work, and income inequality mainly seems to worsen. Could higher taxes, lower federal spending, an AI-led white-collar recession, a push for redistributive economic policies or perhaps some combination of all of them bode ill for the kind of folks who hold American Express cards?…” (Click here to read the full text)
While we acknowledge the potential of AXP to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AXP and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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