RBC Capital analysts upgraded American Express (NYSE:AXP) to Outperform from Sector Perform with a new price target of $200, up from $197, in a note to clients Tuesday.
The consumer finance note from the firm states that RBC is now focusing on "top of wallet exposure," while they are cautious on late fees.
"We are tactically adjusting our card stock preferences for the near term," the analysts said. "While we maintain a balanced long-term view for the industry, we see near-term sentiment risk from the CFPB's late fee proposal, and some potential sentiment risk from ongoing normalization of credit quality and spending trends."
"We favor AXP and DFS due to their limited reliance on late fees as a revenue source. Also, their higher concentrations of super prime and prime customers should drive better than peer losses over the cycle," they added.
The analysts noted that AXP has previously suggested that late fees are an immaterial driver of their revenues, adding that they are more comfortable that AXP can drive better relative growth due to its customer mix and top-of-wallet characteristics.