Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO) stayed green on Wednesday. The stock has dropped 8% over the past one month. The tobacco giant is scheduled to report its first quarter 2024 earnings results on Thursday, April 25, before markets open. Here’s what to expect from the earnings report:
Revenue
Analysts are projecting revenue of $4.7 billion for Altria in the first quarter of 2024. This compares to revenue of $5.7 billion reported in the same period a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2023, net revenues decreased 2% year-over-year to $5.9 billion.
Earnings
The consensus estimate for EPS in Q1 2024 is $1.15, which compares to adjusted EPS of $1.18 reported in Q1 2023. In Q4 2023, adjusted EPS remained flat YoY at $1.18.
Points to note
Altria’s top line has been on a downward trend for the past couple of quarters pressured by declines in its smokeable products segment. Last quarter, smokeable products revenue fell 3% due to lower shipment volume and higher promotional investments.
The cigarette industry has been facing challenges with inflationary pressures weighing on tobacco consumers’ discretionary income. This, along with the growth of illicit e-vapor products, led to an estimated 8% decline in industry cigarette volumes last year. Altria’s domestic cigarette shipment volume decreased 7.6% in Q4.
The company has been able to offset the headwinds in its smokeable products division through price increases to some extent but there are concerns that this strategy may not hold up over the long term.
Meanwhile, Altria’s efforts in expanding its smoke-free products portfolio is expected to prove beneficial. On its last quarterly call, the company said smoke-free alternatives comprise around 40% of the total nicotine space. E-vapor is the largest smoke-free category and Altria has the opportunity to expand further in this space through its acquisition of NJOY.
Altria is also expected to benefit from growth in its oral tobacco products segment which saw revenues rise over nearly 7% in Q4. The company saw shipment volumes for on! nicotine pouches grow around 33% in Q4.