AMERICAN EXPRESS CO vs Synchrony Financial, two Mortgage Finance stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
American Express earns 33% on its equity, Synchrony 21.9%, and the quality gap is narrower than the multiple gap: 21.3 times earnings against 8.1, nearly triple the price per dollar for Amex's affluent closed-loop network over Synchrony's store-card book. Synchrony's rebuttals are visible: the higher net margin, 19.3% against 15.1%, the bigger dividend, 1.5% against 1%, and a 36.2% free-cash figure that, with lender-accounting caveats, still signals the book throws off cash. What the spread prices is customer quality through a downturn, prime-and-above spend versus private-label credit. The market charges three turns of multiple per notch of borrower; this pair is where that exchange rate is posted.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | AXP | SYF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $340.48 | $78.62 |
| Market cap | $233.6B | $27.2B |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| P/E | 21.3 | 8.1 |
| P/B | 6.87 | 1.65 |
| P/S | 3.15 | 1.46 |
| EV/EBITDA | — | 161.3 |
| Revenue growth | +10.5% | +3.1% |
| Net margin | 15.1% | 19.3% |
| Return on equity | 33.0% | 21.9% |
| Return on assets | 3.6% | 3.0% |
| Dividend yield | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| Debt / equity | 1.78 | 1.00 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 0.87 | 0.60 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.