Why Is Marlboro-Maker Altria's Stock Ticking Higher Today?

Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) shares are trading higher on Tuesday after the first-quarter full-year 2025 earnings.

The company reported a first-quarter FY25 sales decline of 5.7% year-on-year to $5.26 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $4.62 billion.

The decrease in revenue was primarily driven by lower net revenues in the smokeable products segment.

Revenue for smokeable products decreased by 5.8%, and oral tobacco products grew by 0.5%.

Smokeable products segment reported domestic cigarette shipment volume decrease of 13.7%, with Marlboro down 13.3%.

Gross profit fell 0.9% Y/Y to $3.24 billion. The operating income for the quarter plunged by 32.9% to $1.88 billion.

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Adjusted EPS of $1.23 beat the consensus estimate of $1.18. Altria paid dividends of $1.7 billion in the first quarter.

In the first quarter of 2025, the company repurchased 5.7 million shares at an average price of $56.97, for a total cost of $326 million.

As of March 31, 2025, Altria had $674 million remaining under the current authorized $1 billion share repurchase program, which is expected to be completed by the end of December.

Altria held $4.72 billion in cash and equivalents as of March-end and the total debt of Altria amounted to $26.05 billion.

"Our highly profitable traditional tobacco businesses performed well in a challenging environment in the first quarter," said CEO Billy Gifford.

Outlook: Altria raised FY25 adjusted EPS guidance from $5.22–$5.37 to $5.30–$5.45 versus an estimate of $5.32. 

This represents a growth rate of 2% to 5% from a base of $5.19 in 2024.

MO Price Action: Altria shares traded higher by 0.82% at $58.66 at last check on Tuesday.

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