Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) saw its shares nudge slightly lower in premarket trade on Thursday after the company saw its third quarter profit beat market expectations but sales falling more than expected.
Net income in the third quarter increased to US$1.87bn, or US 97 US cents a share, from US$1.09bn, or 56 US cents a share, a year ago, the company said in a statement.
Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 90 US cents, above market expectations for 87 US cents.
Revenue however showed a different picture, falling 2.5% to US$6.73bn, well below Wall Street’s consensus for US$6.90bn.
Smokeless revenue up, smokeable products down
Smokeable products revenue fell 2.8% to US$5.98bn, as total cigarette shipments fell 6.2% to 30.8 million sticks.
Smokeless revenue rose 4.2% to US$550ln.
Altria stuck to its 2017 adjusted EPS outlook for US$3.26 to US$3.32. Wall Sreet had pegged adjusted EPS at US$3.26.
In premarket trade, its shares dropped 0.50% at US$63.47, but later in the session added 2.63% to US$65.47.