Is Altria's Ultra-High Dividend Yield Worth the Risk?

Group 1: Company Overview - Altria's primary business involves selling nicotine products, with cigarettes constituting the majority of its revenue [2] - The company operates within the consumer staples sector, which typically includes products with consistent demand [2] Group 2: Financial Performance - Altria experienced a 13.7% year-over-year decline in cigarette volumes in the first quarter of 2025, indicating a continuing downward trend [4] - The company took a $900 million write-down in the first quarter to reduce the carrying value of its investment in NJOY due to a patent lawsuit [6] Group 3: Strategic Challenges - Altria has made multiple attempts to find alternative products to replace cigarettes, but these efforts have resulted in significant financial losses [5][9] - The company previously invested heavily in Juul and Cronos, both of which led to multi-billion-dollar write-downs and ultimately failed to deliver expected returns [8][9] Group 4: Investment Outlook - Despite a high dividend yield of 6.9%, the underlying business struggles raise concerns about the sustainability of this yield [1][10] - The lack of successful product replacements and ongoing challenges suggest that most investors may find the risk associated with Altria's stock to be unworthy [10]