Why American Express Stock Plummeted on Friday
Key Points
There were renewed fears that AI could be extremely disruptive for traditional financial companies.
One prominent business in the sector announced significant layoffs related to technology.
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Deep personnel cuts at a peer financial services company raised concerns that American Express (NYSE: AXP) was vulnerable to disruption. Concerned investors sold out of the veteran credit card company aggressively, and as a result its stock lost almost 8% of its value across the day.
Block's big news
That peer was a digital payments specialist (and, lately, institutional cryptocurrency enthusiast) at Block. Simultaneously with the unveiling of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings report, the company announced it was laying off more than 4,000 employees, roughly 40% of its current workforce.
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In a letter to shareholders, Block founder and CEO Jack Dorsey wrote that this is being done for technology-powered efficiency.
"Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company," he wrote. " A significantly smaller team, using the tools we're building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week."
Rolling with it
If disruption can happen to a very tech-forward operator like Block, it can certainly occur to a more traditional finance-sector business like Amex. Yet we should always bear in mind that the credit card powerhouse has embraced technology for decades and has already implemented solutions like artificial intelligence (AI) within its operations. I feel that Amex will find a way to survive and thrive no matter what technology curveballs are thrown at it.
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American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Block. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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