American Express vs Capital One Financial (AXP vs COF)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Capital One Financial is the larger company by revenue ($53.4B vs $41.3B). American Express carries the larger market value ($239.2B vs $124.1B). Capital One Financial has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+75.6% cumulative vs +49.0%). American Express trades at the lower trailing P/E (21.9x vs 62.2x).
About American Express
American Express is a global payments company that issues credit and charge cards, acquires merchants, and operates a card network. It offers products and services including travel, dining, lifestyle, expense management, banking, and fraud prevention to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations worldwide. The company also partners with other businesses to co-brand cards and provide benefits, while supporting merchants with payment processing and marketing solutions.
About Capital One Financial
Capital One Financial Corporation is a diversified financial services company that operates as a global payments provider and financial institution. It offers a range of products including credit cards, debit cards, bank lending, treasury management, auto loans, and other consumer lending services primarily in the United States. The company serves consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients through digital channels, branch locations, cafés, call centers, and ATMs.
Head to head (AXP FY2025 vs COF FY2025)
| Metric | AXPFY2025 | COFFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $41.30B | $53.43B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.4% | 36.6% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | — | — |
| Net margin | 26.2% | 4.6% |
| Net income | $10.83B | $2.45B |
| Diluted EPS | $15.38 | $4.03 |
| FCF margin | 38.7% | 48.9% |
| ROE | 32.4% | 2.2% |
| Debt / equity | 1.7× | 0.4× |
| Market cap | $239.21B | $124.14B |
| P/E (TTM) | 21.9× | 62.2× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (AXP FY2025, COF FY2025). P/E and market cap are derived from recent market prices and update daily.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| Revenue | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AXP | $27.72B | $34.22B | $37.22B | $38.83B | $41.30B |
| COF | $30.43B | $34.25B | $36.79B | $39.11B | $53.43B |
Peer standing
These companies are ranked against different peer groups (American Express vs 424 Financials companies; Capital One Financial vs 76 banks), so each is shown against its own peers rather than on one scale.
American Express
American Express’s return on equity of 32.4% ranks in the 94th percentile of the 375 Financials companies reporting it. American Express’s debt to equity of 1.68 ranks in the 90th percentile of the 193 Financials companies reporting it.
Capital One Financial
Capital One Financial’s net margin of 4.6% is the lowest of the 76 banks reporting it. Capital One Financial’s return on equity of 2.2% is the lowest of the 76 banks reporting it. Capital One Financial’s P/E of 62.2 ranks in the 99th percentile of the 76 peers with a meaningful P/E.
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | AXP | COF |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 10.8M | 11.7M |
| Change vs prior settlement | -10.4% | +7.2% |
| Days to cover | 2.94 | 2.29 |
| As of settlement | 2026-06-30 | 2026-06-30 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 open-market activity | AXP | COF |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | 0 |
| Sells | 1 ($2.4M) | 6 ($2.6M) |
Open-market purchases and sales reported on SEC Form 4 (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 16% of covered companies saw any open-market insider buy in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
12 tracked 13F managers hold both American Express and Capital One Financial as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Berkshire Hathaway, Citadel Advisors, D. E. Shaw, Dodge & Cox, Gotham Asset Management, Harris Associates (Oakmark), Markel Group, Millennium Management, Renaissance Technologies, Ruane Cunniff (Sequoia), Two Sigma Investments. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR (public domain). Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.