July 31, 2015
Bernstein Liebhard LLP today alerts investors that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers (the “Class”) of common stock of American Express Company (“AmEx” or the “Company”) (NYSE: AXP) during the period of October 16, 2014 and February 11, 2015 (the “Class Period”) alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its officers (the “Complaint”).
The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose materially adverse information regarding AmEx’s business, prospects, and operations. Specifically, the Complaint alleges the Company failed to disclose that it accelerated contract negotiations with Costco U.S. to renew its co-branding agreement, which was set to expire on March 31, 2016, the status of those negotiations, and the financial impact of that agreement on AmEx’s business.
On February 12, 2015, AmEx announced that it had lost the U.S. Costco co-branding relationship and that the financial impact of that loss would be severe. AmEx disclosed that the Costco U.S. co-branding agreement generated 8% of the Company’s revenues in 2014, that one in ten U.S. AmEx cards had been issued pursuant to the Costco U.S. co-branding arrangement and that 20% of its outstanding loans had been made pursuant to that agreement. Finally, as a result of the loss of the Costco U.S. co-branding agreement, AmEx stated that the Company’s 2015 and 2016 profits would suffer and that the Company would not be able to make any headway on its previous efforts to increase earnings per share until 2017 at the very earliest.
Following this news, the price of AmEx common stock fell from a close of $85.40 per share on February 11, 2015, to close at $77.53 per share on February 13, 2015, a decline of nearly $8 per share.
Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all Class members who invested in AmEx common stock during the Class Period. If you invested in AmEx common stock as described above, and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the security, you may wish to join in this action to serve as lead plaintiff. In order to do so, you must meet certain requirements set forth in the applicable law and file appropriate papers no later than September 28, 2015.
A “lead plaintiff” is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Bernstein Liebhard LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
If you are interested in discussing your rights as an AmEx shareholder and/or have information relating to the matter, please contact Joseph R. Seidman, Jr. at (877) 779-1414 or seidman@bernlieb.com.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP has pursued hundreds of securities, consumer and shareholder rights cases and recovered over $3 billion for its clients. The National Law Journal has recognized Bernstein Liebhard for twelve consecutive years as one of the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country.
You can obtain a copy of the complaint from the clerk of the court for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.