AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K form for the fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, page 94: 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
|    |                                                                           |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
|---:|:--------------------------------------------------------------------------|:-------|:-------|:-----|:-------|:-----|:-------|:--------|:---|:-------|
|  1 | Year Ended December 31 (Millions, except per share amounts)               | 2023   |        | 2022 |        | 2021 |        |         |    |        |
|  2 | Revenues                                                                  |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
|  3 | Non-interest revenues                                                     |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
|  4 | Discount revenue                                                          | $      | 33,416 |      |        | $    | 30,739 |         | $  | 24,563 |
|  5 | Net card fees                                                             | 7,255  |        |      | 6,070  |      |        | 5,195   |    |        |
|  6 | Service fees and other revenue                                            | 5,005  |        |      | 4,521  |      |        | 3,316   |    |        |
|  7 | Processed revenue                                                         | 1,705  |        |      | 1,637  |      |        | 1,556   |    |        |
|  8 | Total non-interest revenues                                               | 47,381 |        |      | 42,967 |      |        | 34,630  |    |        |
|  9 | Interest income                                                           |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 10 | Interest on loans                                                         | 17,697 |        |      | 11,967 |      |        | 8,850   |    |        |
| 11 | Interest and dividends on investment securities                           | 128    |        |      | 96     |      |        | 83      |    |        |
| 12 | Deposits with banks and other                                             | 2,158  |        |      | 595    |      |        | 100     |    |        |
| 13 | Total interest income                                                     | 19,983 |        |      | 12,658 |      |        | 9,033   |    |        |
| 14 | Interest expense                                                          |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 15 | Deposits                                                                  | 4,865  |        |      | 1,527  |      |        | 458     |    |        |
| 16 | Long-term debt and other                                                  | 1,984  |        |      | 1,236  |      |        | 825     |    |        |
| 17 | Total interest expense                                                    | 6,849  |        |      | 2,763  |      |        | 1,283   |    |        |
| 18 | Net interest income                                                       | 13,134 |        |      | 9,895  |      |        | 7,750   |    |        |
| 19 | Total revenues net of interest expense                                    | 60,515 |        |      | 52,862 |      |        | 42,380  |    |        |
| 20 | Provisions for credit losses                                              |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 21 | Card Member receivables                                                   | 880    |        |      | 627    |      |        | (73)    |    |        |
| 22 | Card Member loans                                                         | 3,839  |        |      | 1,514  |      |        | (1,155) |    |        |
| 23 | Other                                                                     | 204    |        |      | 41     |      |        | (191)   |    |        |
| 24 | Total provisions for credit losses                                        | 4,923  |        |      | 2,182  |      |        | (1,419) |    |        |
| 25 | Total revenues net of interest expense after provisions for credit losses | 55,592 |        |      | 50,680 |      |        | 43,799  |    |        |
| 26 | Expenses                                                                  |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 27 | Card Member rewards                                                       | 15,367 |        |      | 14,002 |      |        | 11,007  |    |        |
| 28 | Business development                                                      | 5,657  |        |      | 4,943  |      |        | 3,762   |    |        |
| 29 | Card Member services                                                      | 3,968  |        |      | 2,959  |      |        | 1,993   |    |        |
| 30 | Marketing                                                                 | 5,213  |        |      | 5,458  |      |        | 5,291   |    |        |
| 31 | Salaries and employee benefits                                            | 8,067  |        |      | 7,252  |      |        | 6,240   |    |        |
| 32 | Other, net                                                                | 6,807  |        |      | 6,481  |      |        | 4,817   |    |        |
| 33 | Total expenses                                                            | 45,079 |        |      | 41,095 |      |        | 33,110  |    |        |
| 34 | Pretax income                                                             | 10,513 |        |      | 9,585  |      |        | 10,689  |    |        |
| 35 | Income tax provision                                                      | 2,139  |        |      | 2,071  |      |        | 2,629   |    |        |
| 36 | Net income                                                                | $      | 8,374  |      |        | $    | 7,514  |         | $  | 8,060  |
| 37 | Earnings per Common Share - (Note 21)(a)                                  |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 38 | Basic                                                                     | $      | 11.23  |      |        | $    | 9.86   |         | $  | 10.04  |
| 39 | Diluted                                                                   | $      | 11.21  |      |        | $    | 9.85   |         | $  | 10.02  |
| 40 | Average common shares outstanding for earnings per common share:          |        |        |      |        |      |        |         |    |        |
| 41 | Basic                                                                     |        |        |      | 751    |      |        | 789     |    |        |
| 42 | Diluted                                                                   |        |        |      | 752    |      |        | 790     |    |        |
(a)Represents net income less (i) earnings allocated to participating share awards of $64 million, $57 million and $56 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, (ii) dividends on preferred shares of $58 million, $57 million and $71 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and (iii) equity-related adjustments of $16 million related to the redemption of preferred shares for the year ended December 31, 2021.

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

94




, Discover Financial Services 10-K form for the fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, page 86: 
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES


Consolidated Statements of Income

(dollars in millions, except for share amounts)|    |                                                       |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|---:|:------------------------------------------------------|:---------------------------------|:-------|:-----|:-------|:-----|:-------|:-------|:---|:------|
|  1 |                                                       | For the Years Ended December 31, |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|  2 |                                                       | 2023                             |        | 2022 |        | 2021 |        |        |    |       |
|  3 | Interest income                                       |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
|  4 | Credit card loans                                     | $                                | 14,438 |      |        | $    | 10,632 |        | $  | 8,717 |
|  5 | Other loans                                           | 2,515                            |        |      | 1,870  |      |        | 1,734  |    |       |
|  6 | Investment securities                                 | 449                              |        |      | 179    |      |        | 182    |    |       |
|  7 | Other interest income                                 | 443                              |        |      | 183    |      |        | 18     |    |       |
|  8 | Total interest income                                 | 17,845                           |        |      | 12,864 |      |        | 10,651 |    |       |
|  9 | Interest expense                                      |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
| 10 | Deposits                                              | 3,886                            |        |      | 1,257  |      |        | 661    |    |       |
| 11 | Short-term borrowings                                 | 5                                |        |      | 2      |      |        | -      |    |       |
| 12 | Long-term borrowings                                  | 855                              |        |      | 606    |      |        | 473    |    |       |
| 13 | Total interest expense                                | 4,746                            |        |      | 1,865  |      |        | 1,134  |    |       |
| 14 | Net interest income                                   | 13,099                           |        |      | 10,999 |      |        | 9,517  |    |       |
| 15 | Provision for credit losses                           | 6,018                            |        |      | 2,359  |      |        | 218    |    |       |
| 16 | Net interest income after provision for credit losses | 7,081                            |        |      | 8,640  |      |        | 9,299  |    |       |
| 17 | Other income                                          |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
| 18 | Discount and interchange revenue, net                 | 1,447                            |        |      | 1,380  |      |        | 1,188  |    |       |
| 19 | Protection products revenue                           | 172                              |        |      | 172    |      |        | 165    |    |       |
| 20 | Loan fee income                                       | 763                              |        |      | 632    |      |        | 464    |    |       |
| 21 | Transaction processing revenue                        | 303                              |        |      | 249    |      |        | 227    |    |       |
| 22 | (Losses) gains on equity investments                  | (9)                              |        |      | (214)  |      |        | 424    |    |       |
| 23 | Other income                                          | 85                               |        |      | 75     |      |        | 66     |    |       |
| 24 | Total other income                                    | 2,761                            |        |      | 2,294  |      |        | 2,534  |    |       |
| 25 | Other expense                                         |                                  |        |      |        |      |        |        |    |       |
| 26 | Employee compensation and benefits                    | 2,434                            |        |      | 2,139  |      |        | 1,986  |    |       |
| 27 | Marketing and business development                    | 1,164                            |        |      | 1,035  |      |        | 810    |    |       |
| 28 | Information processing and communications             | 608                              |        |      | 513    |      |        | 500    |    |       |
| 29 | Professional fees                                     | 1,041                            |        |      | 871    |      |        | 797    |    |       |
| 30 | Premises and equipment                                | 89                               |        |      | 118    |      |        | 92     |    |       |
| 31 | Other expense                                         | 680                              |        |      | 540    |      |        | 620    |    |       |
| 32 | Total other expense                                   | 6,016                            |        |      | 5,216  |      |        | 4,805  |    |       |
| 33 | Income before income taxes                            | 3,826                            |        |      | 5,718  |      |        | 7,028  |    |       |
| 34 | Income tax expense                                    | 886                              |        |      | 1,344  |      |        | 1,606  |    |       |
| 35 | Net income                                            | $                                | 2,940  |      |        | $    | 4,374  |        | $  | 5,422 |
| 36 | Net income allocated to common stockholders           | $                                | 2,859  |      |        | $    | 4,286  |        | $  | 5,323 |
| 37 | Basic earnings per common share                       | $                                | 11.27  |      |        | $    | 15.45  |        | $  | 17.75 |
| 38 | Diluted earnings per common share                     | $                                | 11.26  |      |        | $    | 15.44  |        | $  | 17.74 |

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Question: Analyze the profit margins of American Express and Discover Financial Services for 2022 and 2023. How do these margins reflect the companies' ability to manage costs and generate profits?
Answer: Profit margin is calculated as net income divided by total revenues. For American Express, the profit margin in 2023 is approximately 12.4% ($8,374 million net income / $67,364 million total revenues), and in 2022, it is about 13.5% ($7,514 million net income / $55,625 million total revenues). For Discover Financial Services, the profit margin in 2023 is approximately 14.3% ($2,940 million net income / $20,606 million total revenues), and in 2022, it is about 28.9% ($4,374 million net income / $15,158 million total revenues). These margins indicate that American Express has a slightly declining but relatively stable ability to manage costs and generate profits, whereas Discover Financial Services experienced a significant drop in profit margin, suggesting increased challenges in cost management and profit generation in 2023.