BUZZ-PREVIEW: American Express hits fresh record heading into results

American Express AXP.N shares up 0.5% to $323.85 ahead of its Q4 results due before the opening bell on Fri

Stock rising for fourth straight session to new record highs

The global payments company is expected to report adj quarterly EPS of $3.04 on revenue of $17.16 bln, per LSEG data, vs yr-ago results of $2.62 per share and $15.8 bln

Of the 31 analysts that cover AXP, the breakdown of recommendations is 12 "strong buy" or "buy," 16 "hold" and 3 "sell" or "strong sell" ratings

Median price target of $305 is up from $290 on Dec. 23 and from $270 three months ago

With move on Thurs, AXP shares up ~9% YTD vs 4.6% rise in Dow Industrials .DJI and 4.8% gain in S&P 500 financials .SPSY

AXP options imply a 4.0% swing for the shares, in either direction, on Fri, according to options analytics service ORATS; over the last 12 qtrs, on average, AXP shares moved 4.6%, on the day the co reported results