American Express vs. Capital One Q3 2026: Amex grew faster, Capital One earned more from it

American Express and Capital One both posted double-digit EPS growth for the third quarter of 2026. Our two reports (American Express Q3 2026, Capital One Q3 2026) reach the same uncomfortable finding for each: most of that growth came from below the operating line. Where they differ is how the business underneath did. Amex grew revenue faster, but its profit before credit costs fell. Capital One grew more slowly and still earned a little more from operations.

• Revenue: Amex +8.9% to $20.06B; Capital One +6.4% to $16.34B.
• Pre-provision profit (revenue minus operating costs, before charges for bad loans), on each company's adjusted basis: Amex down about 5%, to roughly $4.87B; Capital One up 3.8%, to $8.36B.
• Credit: both had falling charge-offs and both released reserves, but at very different loss levels: 1.8% at Amex against 3.98% in Capital One's US card book.

Two different card businesses

Both companies lend on credit cards and run their own payment networks: Amex through its Global Merchant and Network Services segment, Capital One through the Global Payment Network it got with Discover (that deal closed in May 2025, so both Q3s include Discover and the year-on-year comparison is clean). Since April 2026, Capital One's figures also include Brex, a corporate-card company that last year's quarter did not have.

Their revenue mix is very different. At Capital One, net interest income (interest earned on loans minus interest paid on deposits and debt) was $12.89B, about 79% of revenue. At Amex it was $4.94B, about a quarter. Amex earns most of its money from card fees and merchant fees on spending. Capital One is mostly a lender, with a $92.9B auto loan book and a commercial bank beside its cards.

Growth: Amex faster on the top line, neither on operations

Amex's 31% GAAP EPS jump is mostly a one-off: a $982M pre-tax gain from selling its stake in Global Business Travel Group, partly offset by a $336M restructuring charge. Take both out and Amex's pretax income rose 1.6%. Capital One's pretax income rose 4.3%. Its GAAP-to-adjusted gap is different in kind: $1.08 a share of Discover-related amortization and integration costs, plus $47M of Brex integration costs. That gap recurs every quarter and isn't a one-time gain.

On adjusted EPS the two land almost together (+13% and +12.4%), and for similar reasons. Both tax rates fell by about 5 to 6 points, and both companies bought back shares. Our Amex report estimates that about $0.40 of its $0.54 adjusted EPS gain came from the lower tax rate and $0.12 from buybacks, which leaves roughly $0.02 from the business. Our Capital One report puts about three-quarters of its EPS increase below the operating line.

Costs: the real divergence

Amex's problem is what it spends to keep its customers. Rewards, business development and Card Member services rose 16% to $8.89B, or 44.3% of revenue against 41.8% a year ago. Marketing rose 11%, and adjusted operating expenses rose about 13%. All three outpaced 9% revenue growth. The gap between new Platinum benefit costs and new card fees did narrow, to $111M from $266M in Q2.

Capital One's costs also outran revenue, but by less. Adjusted expenses rose 7.2% against adjusted revenue growth of 5.5%, so the adjusted efficiency ratio (costs per dollar of revenue, where lower is better) worsened to 48.76% from 47.96%. Part of that is Brex's cost base. Amex publishes no efficiency ratio, so the two can't be lined up on that measure.

Credit: both improving, from very different levels

The charge-off rate is the share of loans a lender has given up on collecting. Capital One's US card losses fell further, by 65 basis points (0.65 points), and that is the strongest part of its quarter. Amex's losses were already less than half that level and edged down. Amex's provision did more work for profit, though. It fell $302M, more than the whole $60M rise in adjusted pretax income, and most of the drop was a reserve release, not lower write-offs. Capital One's provision rose with its loan book, even with a release of similar size.

Both report a margin near 8.5% (Amex 8.5%, Capital One 8.41%), but Amex's is a yield on card balances and Capital One's covers all interest-earning assets, so they aren't strictly comparable. For both, cheaper deposits did more than loan growth.

Capital One holds a much thicker capital cushion, with a CET1 ratio of 13.8% against Amex's 10.9%, although Capital One's is falling as it buys back shares.

Which quarter was stronger

Takeaway: Capital One had the better quarter on operations and on credit improvement. Its adjusted pre-provision profit rose 3.8% while Amex's fell about 5%, and its US card charge-off rate dropped 0.65 points. Amex had the better quarter on demand: revenue up 9%, spending up 8% and fees per card up 14%, with losses far lower. Neither company's EPS growth mainly reflects a stronger business. Amex relied on a sale gain, a reserve release and a lower tax rate; Capital One relied on lower losses, a lower tax rate and 5% fewer shares.

What to watch next differs too. Amex raised its full-year EPS guidance to $18.30–$18.60 GAAP. In Q4 its Platinum cost step-up laps, and it faces a weak Q4 2025 base, so Q4 is when its operating business should show growth without help from reserves. Capital One gave no numeric guidance. Its test is whether US card charge-offs stay below last year's level through the seasonally heavier Q4, and whether Discover integration costs finally start to fall.