Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM, ETR:4I1) shares fell almost 10% in early trade on Tuesday after the cigarette-maker issued cautious guidance for the remainder of the year, despite reporting better-than-expected third quarter earnings.
Philip Morris said it now expects adjusted EPS between $7.46 and $7.56 for the full year, above its earlier guidance.
This represents growth of 12% to 13.5% from $6.57 last year.
Wall Street analysts expect adjusted EPS of $7.53, at the high end of Philip Morris’ guidance.
For Q3, Philip Morris reported EPS of $2.23, up 13.2% from the prior year, beating estimates of $1.98.
Revenue for the quarter reached $10.85 billion, a 9.4% increase year-over-year, also above the consensus estimate of $10.64 billion.
The company’s operating margin expanded to 39.3% from 36.9% in the same period last year, supported by growth in its smoke-free product segment, which now accounts for 41% of total net revenues and 42% of gross profit.
"In the third quarter, we continued to invest in the growth of our increasingly profitable smoke-free business, while achieving record quarterly smoke-free gross profit and adjusted diluted EPS," Philip Morris CEO Jacek Olczak said.
"We are on track to exceed our industry-leading 2024-26 growth targets and upgrade our 2025 full-year adjusted diluted EPS forecast."