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Altria’s revenue benefited from higher pricing of its products
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Altria Group, the company that sells Marlboro cigarettes in the U.S., turned in financial results that slightly topped analysts’ expectations as it moves deeper into other products.
The company (ticker: MO) earned $1.31 a share from revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter that ended in June. Analysts tracked by
FactSet
were looking for $1.30 per share from $5.43 billion of sales.
Shipments of cigarettes overall declined by nearly 9% from the same quarter last year, but higher prices offset the blow to revenue.
Altria
‘s revenue was also buoyed by demand for its on! nicotine pouches, small tea-bag-like products commonly offered in mint flavor. Shipment volumes grew nearly 50% in the second quarter versus a year earlier.
The company has been increasingly pushing into the cigarette alternatives category. It bought NJOY Holdings, a maker of electronic cigarette and vaping products, for $2.75 billion in cash in March.
The move comes as Marlboro continues to lose market share. Marlboro’s retail share of the total cigarette category was 42.1% at the end of the second quarter, compared with 42.5% last year and 43% in 2021.
Altria
stock was down 0.5% on Tuesday morning after rising earlier in the day.
The company maintained its outlook for 2023 adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4.89 to $5.03.
Write to Karishma Vanjani at [email protected].
Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/altria-stock-marlboro-earnings-price-91a1dfeb?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo