Sifting through countless of stocks in the Consumer Finance industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company

Capital One Financial Corporation operates as the financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association, which engages in the provision of various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking. The company accepts checking accounts, money market deposits, negotiable order of withdrawals, savings deposits, time deposits, and sweep accounts. Its loan products include credit card and personal loans; auto and retail banking loans; and commercial and multifamily real estate, and commercial and industrial loans. The company offers credit and debit card products; bank lending; and provides advisory, capital markets, net interchange, treasury management, and depository services. It serves consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients through digital channels, branches, cafés, and other distribution channels located in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. Capital One Financial Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. The company offers credit and charge cards and complementary products and services, including travel, dining, and lifestyle and expense management products and services; and banking and other payment and financing products and services, including deposits and non-card lending. It also provides merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, fraud prevention, and point-of-sale marketing and information products and services, as well as network services. The company offers its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, affiliate marketing, customer referral programs, third-party service providers and business partners, in-house sales teams, direct mail, telephone, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Latest Consumer Finance and Capital One Financial Corporation, American Express Company Stock News

As of June 18, 2026, Capital One Financial Corporation had a $124.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Consumer Finance median of $1.0 million. Capital One Financial Corporation’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 3.92% in the past year.

Currently, Capital One Financial Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 46.9. Capital One Financial Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $36.3 billion with a 8.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 46.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $19.696 per share for the current fiscal year. Capital One Financial Corporation currently has a 1.6% dividend yield.

Currently, American Express Company’s price-earnings ratio is 21.1. American Express Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $68.8 billion with a 16.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 11.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $17.662 per share for the current fiscal year. American Express Company currently has a 1.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

Learn more about A+ Investor here!

Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions

Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Capital One Financial Corporation	COF	D
American Express Company	AXP	D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Capital One Financial Corporation has a Value Score of 40, which is Expensive. American Express Company has a Value Score of 37, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Capital One Financial Corporation	COF	C
American Express Company	AXP	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Capital One Financial Corporation has a Momentum Score of 45, which is Average. American Express Company has a Momentum Score of 54, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Capital One Financial Corporation	COF	D
American Express Company	AXP	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Capital One Financial Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 23, which is Negative. American Express Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 55, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company Grades

In addition to Value, Estimate Revisions and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Quality.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Capital One Financial Corporation or American Express Company Stock?

Overall, Capital One Financial Corporation stock has a Value Score of 40, Momentum Score of 45 and Estimate Revisions Score of 23.

American Express Company stock has a Value Score of 37, Momentum Score of 54 and Estimate Revisions Score of 55.

Comparing Capital One Financial Corporation and American Express Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.