Philip Morris shares slid on Thursday after the company’s 1Q revenue figures came in just below expectations.
The Marlboro cigarette manufacturer did beat on profits, but its quarterly revenue of $8.02 billion missed estimates by $10 million.
The tobacco company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.38, ahead of estimates of $1.34 but a decline of 4.4% year-over-year.
The company guided second quarter profits to be between $1.42 to $1.47 per share.
CEO touts strong performance
Looking ahead, Philip Morris is reaffirming its 2023 full-year guidance of diluted EPS of $5.88 to $6 and adjusted earnings of $6.10 to $6.22, which it said represents “currency-neutral growth” of 7% to 9%.
The company said it expects revenues to grow by 7% to 8.5% on an organic basis.
"Our business performed strongly in the first quarter, with adjusted diluted EPS of $1.38 exceeding our expectations," said Jacek Olczak, Philip Morris’ CEO.
"Net revenues increased by 3.5% on a reported basis and by 3.2% organically, reflecting accelerated combustible tobacco pricing and robust underlying heated tobacco unit shipment volume growth before the impact of inventory movements,” Olczak noted.
"We continue to successfully integrate Swedish Match, which delivered impressive - and accretive - results, accelerating our transition to a majority smoke-free company. The outstanding performance of ZYN in the US complemented the positive momentum of IQOS, including the excellent traction of ILUMA across launch markets, and reinforces our position as a truly global smoke-free champion."
Shares of Philip Morris were down 4.4% by midday Thursday.
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
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