Altria (MO) Tops Q3 Estimates as It Raises 2026 Profit Forecast

Altria (MO) reported third-quarter revenue net of excise taxes of $5.44 billion, up 3.6% year on year, beating the $5.31 billion analysts expected, according to S&P Global data cited by StockStory. Adjusted earnings of $1.52 a share, up 4.8%, edged past the $1.51 Zacks consensus. The results came out before the market opened on Thursday, and the stock jumped 5.2% that day to close at $76.75.

The buying carried into Friday. Altria was up 3.3% at $79.29 as of 9:31 a.m. ET.

What stood out

Price did the work that volume could not. Altria, the owner of Philip Morris USA and the maker of Marlboro in the US, sold fewer cigarettes but charged more for them, the release showed.

In smokeable products, its cigarette and cigar business, higher prices more than made up for more promotions, lower shipments, and smokers trading down to discount brands. Domestic cigarette shipments fell 2.9% on a reported basis, and Marlboro’s share of retail cigarette sales slipped a full point to 39.5%.

Shipments of on!, its nicotine pouch, rose 13.3% to 47.8 million cans, but part of that was stores stocking up for the national launch of stronger 12-milligram pouches, Chief Executive Sal Mancuso said on the call.

The outlook

Altria raised its 2026 adjusted earnings forecast to $5.66 to $5.74 a share, which it said means growth of 4.5% to 6.0% from $5.42 in 2025.

“Our strong performance through the first nine months and confidence in our full-year plan” allowed the company to raise its guidance, Mancuso said in the release. The forecast assumes slower growth in e-vapor, more economic strain on adult nicotine users, and that its NJOY ACE vape stays off the market for the rest of 2026, Quartz reported.

The board also added $1 billion to Altria’s share buyback program, according to the company and Newsquawk.

Thursday’s close was Altria’s highest in at least a year. Its 5.2% gain was its biggest since 30 April, when it rose 6.5%, and it left Altria up 33.1% this year.

Our take

This was a small beat on profit and a clearer one on revenue, and the higher forecast is what investors paid for. The weak spots are the ones Altria has carried for years: falling cigarette volumes and a shrinking Marlboro share. Next quarter we’d watch whether on! shipments hold up once the pipeline stocking for the new pouches is done.