The CEO of American Express, Stephen Squeri, assured that during the last quarter, consumer spending flat without noticeable changes, which bodes well for a good Christmas season.
“We do not see any change in consumer spending,” Squeri reiterated to Yahoo Finance. “We have a solid credit quality,” she added.
During its earnings report, the financial institution noted that third quarter revenue was stronger than expected, while raising its forecast for the full year.
The company said that overall customer spend increased 21% year over year driven by growth in goods and services, as well as travel and entertainment.
Based on these reported figures, Squeri believes that consumer spending will remain healthy during the holiday season.
“My opinion is that we are going to have strong retail spending and we will have strong travel spending during the Christmas season”, said the CEO.
American Express detailed that its travel and entertainment segment saw a 57% increase in spending compared to the previous year, with volumes in its international markets exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time in the third quarter.
The CEO also talked about the plans they have Should Recession Fears Become Reality.
“If something changes we have plans to pivot,” added Squeri. “If I didn’t say that, they would think I’m an idiot. What CEO has no plans for the recession? You know, I mean, everyone has them, but I had plans in 2019. And we were able to get it off the shelf to navigate the pandemic and that worked out pretty well for us.”
Squeri’s comments echo those of other CEOs this earnings season, including Bank of America.
In its quarterly earnings report released days ago, the company noted that consumers are spending and paying their credits despite the high rates.
The reading that the bank’s executives give to these results is that if there is an economic recession in the country or in the whole world, there are still millions of Americans who are still unaffected.
However, recent economic data has shown signs of stagnation in consumer spending. Retail and foodservice sales were little changed in September after rising 0.4% in August, according to the Commerce Department’s flash estimate.
Consumers could have started to be cautious about wasting as prices rose sharply and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to slow the economy.