American Express advertising spend, FY2025

American Express (AXP) reported $6.3B of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. That is 8.7% of revenue of $72.2B. Up 3.5% from FY2024.

Ad spend, FY2025
$6.3B
year ended Dec 31, 2025
Change vs prior year
+3.5%
vs FY2024
Share of revenue
8.7%
of $72.2B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#9
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 2.0x its FY2015 level ($3.1B), slower than revenue (2.2x).
  • The highest year on file is FY2021 at $9.1B; FY2025 is 31% below it.
  • Largest increase +101.0% in FY2016; largest cut -39.7% in FY2022.
  • Ad spend has risen 2 years in a row.
  • Ad spend is 8.7% of revenue, down from 18.7% in FY2020.
  • American Express spends more on advertising than 98% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is 1.7x the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $2.5B $5B $7.5B $10B FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): $3.1B 2015 FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): $6.2B FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): $5.7B 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): $6.5B FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): $7.1B 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): $6.7B FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): $9.1B 2021 FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): $5.5B FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): $5.2B 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): $6B FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): $6.3B 2025 $6.3B

Ad spend as % of revenue

0% 10% 20% 30% FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): 9.5% 2015 FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): 17.6% FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): 15.5% 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): 16.1% FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): 16.4% 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): 18.7% FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): 21.4% 2021 FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): 10.3% FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): 8.6% 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): 9.2% FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): 8.7% 2025 8.7%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2025 Dec 31, 2025 $6.3B +3.5% $72.2B 8.7% MarketingExpense 10-K Feb 6, 2026
FY2024 Dec 31, 2024 $6B +15.9% $65.9B 9.2% MarketingExpense 10-K Feb 6, 2026
FY2023 Dec 31, 2023 $5.2B -4.5% $60.5B 8.6% MarketingExpense 10-K Feb 6, 2026
FY2022 Dec 31, 2022 $5.5B -39.7% $52.9B 10.3% MarketingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2025
FY2021 Dec 31, 2021 $9.1B +34.2% $42.4B 21.4% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 11, 2022
FY2020 Dec 31, 2020 $6.7B -5.3% $36.1B 18.7% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 11, 2022
FY2019 Dec 31, 2019 $7.1B +10.0% $43.6B 16.4% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 11, 2022
FY2018 Dec 31, 2018 $6.5B +13.2% $40.3B 16.1% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 12, 2021
FY2017 Dec 31, 2017 $5.7B -8.4% $36.9B 15.5% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 13, 2020
FY2016 Dec 31, 2016 $6.2B +101.0% $35.4B 17.6% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 13, 2019
FY2015 Dec 31, 2015 $3.1B n/a $32.8B 9.5% MarketingAndAdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 16, 2018

What the figure is

Total marketing expense (XBRL tag MarketingExpense). It can include marketing staff costs, not only paid media. Revenue is net of interest expense.

Earlier years use a different tag. The Tag column above shows which one applies to each year.

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to American Express in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
8 Disney $6.5B 6.9% +6.6% FY2025
9 American Express $6.3B 8.7% +3.5% FY2025
10 Capital One $5.9B 11.0% +29.0% FY2025
11 JPMorgan Chase $5.5B 3.0% +11.2% FY2025
12 Coca-Cola $5.4B 11.3% +5.9% FY2025
13 Walmart $5.4B 0.8% +5.9% FY2026
14 Progressive $5.1B 5.9% +28.2% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest increases #199

Questions

How much does American Express spend on advertising?

American Express spent $6.3B on advertising in fiscal 2025, the year ended Dec 31, 2025, according to its 10-K filed Feb 6, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does American Express spend on advertising?

8.7% of revenue in fiscal 2025 ($6.3B of $72.2B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is American Express spending more on advertising?

Yes. Ad spend rose 3.5% in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2024. It has risen 2 years in a row.

How does American Express rank by advertising spend?

#9 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does American Express's advertising figure include?

Total marketing expense (XBRL tag MarketingExpense). It can include marketing staff costs, not only paid media.

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2025, filed Feb 6, 2026
Accession number
0000004962-26-000080
Company
AMERICAN EXPRESS CO, CIK 4962, SIC 6199 (Finance Services)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
American Express advertising spend, FY2015-FY2025. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Feb 6, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/american-express/advertising-spend/
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CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies