SQ vs AXP Stock Comparison
AXP currently leads SQ in this stock comparison, with AIQ scores of 61 vs 49. The clearest difference is risk resilience, while SQ has the stronger value profile.
What is the main difference between SQ and AXP?
AXP leads the current stock comparison as American Express Company, with the clearest separation coming from risk resilience and the broader AIQ evidence mix.
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
Block, Inc. vs American Express Company
AXP leads
AXP leads by 12 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Quality, and the lead has widened from 2 points over 30 sessions. Wall Street currently favors SQ on target upside.
Competitive: 3 of 5 evidence groups support AXP, its lead is widening, and its current signal state is conflicted.
Block, Inc.
American Express Company
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors AXP over SQ, 61 versus 49 as of Oct 31, 2026. AXP's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and quality, while SQ holds the stronger value profile. Analyst target upside, however, currently favors SQ. 3 of 5 covered evidence groups favor AXP today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader is throwing conflicting signals. AXP lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 2 to 12 points over 30 sessions.
Compare Block, Inc. and American Express Company across the Algovestiq AIQ Score, valuation, quality, momentum, risk, technicals and analyst expectations.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare SQ and AXP against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Risk Resilience57 vs 79AXP +22
- Quality48 vs 69AXP +21
- Value46 vs 39SQ +7
3 of 5 evidence groups favor AXP. AXP’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and quality; SQ keeps a meaningful value edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-28, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-27.
No factor moved materially.
No signal started or stopped since the prior session.
Largest factor move: Momentum +14
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 2 active signals are unchanged.
AXP's lead widened by 3 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — SQ and AXP both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
AXP (American Express Company): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience and quality.
SQ (Block, Inc.): the counter-case, on value, valuation, analyst expectations.
The AIQ Score and Wall Street therefore point in different directions on this pair.
Which one fits your objective
The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.
Balanced
AXPAXP on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.
Growth
SQSQ on combined revenue and EPS growth.
Value
SQSQ on the peer-relative Value factor, by 7 points.
Momentum
EvenThe two are level on Momentum.
Lower downside
AXPAXP on Risk Resilience, by 22 points.
Analyst upside
SQSQ on implied upside to the consensus price target.
AIQ vs Wall Street
The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors AXP, analyst targets favor SQ. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.
| Measure | SQ | AXP | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied upside to target | +18.4% | +13.4% | SQ has more room |
| Target dispersion | +24.3% | +23.5% | Lower is tighter analyst agreement |
| Consensus | Buy | Buy | Context, not a primary driver |
| Analysts covering | 8 | 11 | Higher coverage generally improves confidence |
The two are measuring different things. The AIQ Score reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; analyst targets price forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something already priced in — it is worth resolving before acting on either.
Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions. Dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
3 of 5 covered evidence groups favor AXP. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | AXP | 49 vs 61 |
| Fundamentals | AXPon balance | revenue growth 9.3% vs 1.8%; EPS growth 128.8% vs 19.6%; TTM ROE 1.6% vs 11.9%; gross margin 46.4% vs 85.2%; operating margin 10.2% vs 27.6% — AXP takes 3 of 5 decided legs, not all of them |
| Valuation | SQ | Value 46 vs 39 |
| Technicals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Risk Resilience | AXP | Risk Resilience 57 vs 79 |
| Analyst expectations | SQ | Target upside 18.4% vs 13.4% |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of SQ and AXP and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is wide at 12 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on AXP.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 29 – Oct 28AXP lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 2 to 12 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- AXP +12
- 49 vs 61
- 7 sessions ago
- AXP +8
- 49 vs 57
- 30 sessions ago
- AXP +2
- 49 vs 51
- 90 sessions ago
- AXP +2
- 49 vs 51
The lead changed hands 8 times in this window, most recently on Sep 16 when SQ moved ahead of AXP.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
No active signals
No signal that the other name lacks.
1 bullish / 1 bearish, conflicted
Only AXP
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (2.73%)
- MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
AXP leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Price is down while the AIQ Score moved up 3 points over the same session — price and model disagree (price -1.42%, AIQ +3 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1SQ closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 22 points behind, the largest single contributor to AXP's edge.
- 2SQ generates a confirmed bullish trend signal it does not currently carry, such as Golden Cross Active or MACD Bullish Crossover.
- 3AXP's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 1 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Fundamentals
AXP leads on balance| Metric | SQ | AXP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 9.3% | 1.8% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 128.8% | 19.6% |
| Gross margin | 46.4% | 85.2% |
| Operating margin | 10.2% | 27.6% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | 1.6% | 11.9% |
| Debt to equity | 0.3 | 0.19 |
Performance
Split across windows| Metric | SQ | AXP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | — | -1.8% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | — | 4.6% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | — | -5.8% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | — | 0.7% |
| Year to date | — | -14.1% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | — | -11.1% |
Technicals
Split| Metric | SQ | AXP |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | — | 60.3 |
| ADX (14) | — | 17.9 |
| Price vs 50-day | — | 0.4% |
| Price vs 200-day | — | -2.6% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | — | 19.9% |
Risk
AXP is the more resilient| Metric | SQ | AXP |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | — | 0.94 |
| Sharpe ratio | — | -0.52 |
| Sortino ratio | — | -0.64 |
| Max drawdown | — | -24.1% |
| Current drawdown | — | -17.4% |
| Annualized volatility | — | 25.7% |
| Value at risk (95%) | — | -2.6% |
Straight answers
Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.
Which is better, SQ or AXP?
On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, AXP is the stronger of the two as of Oct 31, 2026, scoring 61 against SQ's 49. The edge comes from risk resilience and quality. SQ is not without a case — it holds the better value profile, which matters more if that is the objective you are optimizing for. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.
Is SQ or AXP the better buy right now?
AXP carries the stronger systematic profile as of Oct 31, 2026, and the comparison is rated Competitive — 3 of 5 covered evidence groups agree. A Competitive rating means the two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
Why does the AIQ Score favor AXP over SQ?
The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. AXP leads Risk Resilience by 22 points; AXP leads Quality by 21 points; SQ leads Value by 7 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.
Which has more analyst upside, SQ or AXP?
Analyst price targets imply +18.4% upside for SQ and +13.4% for AXP, so the Street currently favors SQ. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors AXP. The two are measuring different things: the model reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; the Street is pricing forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something the analysts have already priced — it is the single most useful row on this page to investigate. Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions, and dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
Which is better value, SQ or AXP?
SQ is the better-valued of the two on the peer-relative Value factor. SQ on the peer-relative Value factor, by 7 points. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.
Which has stronger growth, SQ or AXP?
SQ on combined revenue and EPS growth. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.
Which has stronger momentum, SQ or AXP?
The two are level on Momentum. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.
Which is riskier, SQ or AXP?
AXP is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. AXP on Risk Resilience, by 22 points. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.
Is SQ more profitable than AXP?
AXP leads on the comparable margin measures — gross margin 46.4% vs 85.2%; operating margin 10.2% vs 27.6%; ttm roe 1.6% vs 11.9%.
Is AXP's lead over SQ getting stronger or weaker?
AXP lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 2 to 12 points over 30 sessions. This is measured from 120 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-06-29 and 2026-10-28. The lead has changed hands 8 times in that window, most recently on 2026-09-16, when SQ moved ahead of AXP.
What would change the SQ vs AXP verdict?
The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: SQ closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 22 points behind, the largest single contributor to AXP's edge; SQ generates a confirmed bullish trend signal it does not currently carry, such as Golden Cross Active or MACD Bullish Crossover; AXP's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 1 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once; a regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
What do the current signals say about SQ and AXP?
SQ: No active signals. AXP: 1 bullish / 1 bearish, conflicted. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. On AXP it is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon).
Compare SQ and AXP with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.