“we continue to expect revenue growth in-line with our 9% to 11% range for the year.”

In context

“business. Revenue in the quarter reached an all-time high and earnings grew 44% year-over-year or 21% after excluding the gain of $0.66 we realized from the sale of Accertify. The strong performance of our core business year-to-date and our expectations for the balance of the year will enable us to increase our investments in marketing and other strategic areas that drive our growth without using any of the proceeds from the Accertify sale, while still delivering exceptional earnings results. In fact, we now expect to invest around $6 billion in marketing this year, up about $800 million versus last year, all of it funded from the results of our core business. As a result, we are raising our EPS guidance range for the full year to $13.30 to $13.80, up from $12.65 to $13.15 previously, and we continue to expect revenue growth in-line with our 9% to 11% range for the year. As we've seen through the first half of the year, our core business continues to generate strong momentum, even against the backdrop of a slower growth environment. The continued momentum we're generating reflects the earnings power of our business model, which is driven by several interrelated factors, including. First and foremost, the quality of our loyal premium customer-base, plus the increasing scale of our business, a well-controlled expense base, the success of the strategic investments we're making to enhance Amex membership and our talented colleagues around the world. Our continued strong performance starts with our premium customers, who are high spending, long-tenured and have excellent credit profiles. And we continue to attract large numbers of high quality premium customer”