<p>NEW YORK — American Express was hit by a slowdown in credit spending and revenue slid, but earnings topped expectations thanks to $1.05 billion in credit reserve releases. </p>
<p>The New York company on Friday reported first-quarter net income of $2.24 billion, or $2.74 per share. Per share earnings, minus one-time costs and benefits, were $1.74, exceeding Wall Street projections of $1.68, according to Zacks Investment Research.</p>
<p>The credit card issuer and global payments company posted revenue of $9.06 billion, just shy of analyst projections of $9.24 billion.</p>
<p>Shares of American Express Co. dipped more than 2% before the opening bell Friday. </p>
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<p>A portion of this story was generated by Automated Insights (<a href="http://automatedinsights.com/ap">http://automatedinsights.com/ap</a>) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AXP at <a href="https://www.zacks.com/ap/AXP">https://www.zacks.com/ap/AXP</a></p>
