Key Takeaways MO's Q1 2025 pricing strategy drove revenue gains across the Smokeable and Oral Tobacco segments. Strong pricing power helped MO maintain margins despite cigarette volume declines and regulations. MO expects 2025 EPS of $5.30-$5.45, reflecting up to 5% growth from 2024's adjusted base of $5.19.Altria Group, Inc. (MO) has demonstrated remarkable resilience in a challenging operating environment, and a major driver of this strength is its robust pricing strategy. Despite ongoing volume pressur ...

Core Viewpoint - Altria Group Inc. reported mixed first-quarter 2025 results, with a decline in top-line revenue but an increase in bottom-line earnings, reaffirming its 2025 adjusted EPS guidance [1][2]. Financial Performance - Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter were $1.23, a 6% increase year over year, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.17 [2]. - Net revenues totaled $5,259 million, down 5.7% year over year, missing the consensus estimate of $4,638.2 million [2]. - Revenues from smokeable products fell 5.8% to $4,622 million, primarily due to reduced shipment volume, although higher pricing provided some offset [4]. Segment Analysis - **Smokeable Products**: - Net revenues decreased 5.8% year over year to $4,622 million, with domestic cigarette shipment volumes down 13.7% [4][5]. - Adjusted operating income (OCI) increased 2.7% to $2,518 million, with adjusted OCI margins growing 4.2 percentage points to 64.4% [6]. - **Oral Tobacco Products**: - Net revenues rose 0.5% to $654 million, driven by higher pricing, despite a 5% decline in domestic shipment volumes [7][8]. - Adjusted OCI remained flat, with a slight decline in adjusted OCI margin by 0.3 percentage points to 69.2% [9]. Shareholder Returns and Guidance - The company repurchased 5.7 million shares for $326 million in the first quarter, with $674 million remaining under its $1 billion share repurchase program [11]. - Altria expects 2025 adjusted EPS in the range of $5.30 to $5.45, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 2% to 5% from a base of $5.19 in 2024 [12][13]. Market Context - Altria's stock has gained 12.6% over the past three months, compared to the industry's growth of 21.8% [15].

Altria (MO) reported $4.52 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 2025, representing a year-over-year decline of 4.2%. EPS of $1.23 for the same period compares to $1.15 a year ago.The reported revenue represents a surprise of -2.57% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.64 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.17, the EPS surprise was +5.13%.While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next ...