American Express will cut about 3,500 jobs while raising its 2026 forecast
American Express reported third-quarter revenue of $20.1 billion, up 9%, raised its 2026 earnings guidance, and booked a $336 million restructuring charge. On the earnings call CEO Stephen Squeri said about 5% of the global workforce, roughly 3,500 of 78,000 jobs, will be eliminated. The CFO described the cuts as removing management layers to prepare for automation and AI.
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Key takeaways
American Express reported Q3 revenue of $20.1 billion (up 9%), net income of $3.7 billion (up 28%), and raised 2026 guidance to $18.30-$18.60 per share GAAP while taking a $336 million pretax restructuring charge.
The 3,500-job cut (5% of 78,000 employees) was framed as reducing management layers and spans of control to enable automation and AI capabilities over coming years, not as a response to cyclical weakness.
Unlike most 2024 AI-related cuts at companies under margin pressure, American Express announced layoffs while adding revenue at 9%, establishing a template for managed restructuring ahead of AI deployment rather than reactive workforce reduction.
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American Express had its best kind of quarter and announced job cuts anyway. The company reported third-quarter revenue of $20.1 billion, up 9%, net income of $3.7 billion, up 28%, and diluted earnings of $5.42 a share, according to its earnings release filed with the SEC on October 23. Billed business reached $454 billion, up 8%. In the same release it raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance to $18.30 to $18.60 a share, or $17.60 to $17.90 on an adjusted basis, and booked a $336 million pretax restructuring charge, $253 million after tax, for what it called efficiency initiatives.
CEO Stephen Squeri told analysts the company is eliminating about 5% of its global workforce, CNBC reported. With roughly 78,000 employees, a figure Squeri gave Bloomberg Television, that works out to about 3,500 jobs.
The headcount behind that charge came out on the earnings call. Chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec framed the move as structural rather than cyclical. CNBC reported that he described the plan as reducing layers and increasing spans of control so the company can automate and take advantage of AI over the coming quarters and years. The company has not said that AI is replacing the eliminated roles, and it has not attributed the cuts to any software it has deployed. The stated logic is readiness: flatten the organization first, then let automation absorb work as it becomes available.
Automation and AI focus
That sequencing is the part other large employers will study. Most AI-related workforce announcements this year have come from companies under margin pressure. American Express is adding revenue at 9% and raising guidance. Cutting during strength, with a reason that points at the next several years rather than the last quarter, is a different posture, and it sets a benchmark that peers in payments, banking and professional services will be measured against.
Quarter's growth drivers
The quarter's drivers were familiar. Reuters reported that travel and entertainment spending continued to lead growth, and Squeri's statement in the release cited momentum in billings, new card acquisitions, member retention and credit quality. Adjusted earnings of $4.68 a share beat the $4.48 that analysts polled by LSEG expected, per Reuters.
For readers comparing coverage, the two guidance figures are not a discrepancy. The $18.30 to $18.60 range is the GAAP number and includes a gain the company excludes from its adjusted figure; the $17.60 to $17.90 range is the adjusted one. — Both appear in the SEC filing, and both are increases from the prior outlook of around $17.
What the announcement does not include matters too. There is no breakdown by function, geography or seniority, no timeline beyond the charge being taken this quarter, and no stated savings target tied to the cuts. The restructuring charge is the only hard number on the cost side. Investors will want to see the savings show up in the expense line in 2027; employees and the vendors who serve them will want to know which layers are going.
Industry implications
For business services firms, the signal is less about one card issuer than about a template. The pattern is a leaner management structure announced ahead of AI deployment, paid for with a one-time charge while results are strong, and explained to shareholders as preparation rather than reaction. Expect to see it repeated.
Sources
- American Express third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Form 8-K exhibit) ↗ · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- American Express is cutting 5% of its workforce to 'prepare for AI' ↗ · CNBC
- AmEx lifts 2026 profit forecast, plans to cut 5% of workforce ↗ · Reuters
- American Express Cuts Jobs, Raises 2026 Earnings Guidance ↗ · Bloomberg
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