UPDATE: Credit Suisse Reiterates Underperform Rating, Raises PT on American Express Company on Reported 1Q EPS

In a report published Thursday, Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch reiterated an Underperform rating on American Express Company

, and raised the price target from $59.00 to $61.00. In the report, Orenbuch noted, “AXP reported 1Q continuing EPS of $1.15, ahead of Credit Suisse estimate of $1.07 and consensus estimate of $1.12, and was entirely a beat on expenses as revenues disappointed. Revenue growth slowed about 285 bps to 4% from 4Q, and reserve release continued to provide earnings benefit. Relative to our model, fee revenues were about $0.11/shr lower driven by a compressed discount rate, offset somewhat by $0.01 higher net interest income. Higher cash back rewards likely contributed to the discount rate compression. Operating expenses were well below expectations by ~$0.20/share mainly due to lower marketing, salaries and other expenses. Credit remained strong and was largely in line with expectations as Cardmember lending losses of $304MM were down 2% q/q and the net loss rate remained flat at 2.0%. Spending volumes decelerated to 6% growth on USD basis (from 8% in 4Q), and adjusted for currency were flat q/q at 7%. Amex cited pressures in corporate spending and T&E volumes, which we had anticipated.” American Express Company closed on Wednesday at $64.13.