Altria Presents as Part of the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference; Reaffirms 2026 Full-Year Earnings Guidance
RICHMOND, Va.--( BUSINESS WIRE)--Altria Group, Inc. (Altria) (NYSE: MO) is participating in the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference in Orlando, Florida, today. Billy Gifford, Altria’s Chief Executive Officer, and Sal Mancuso, Altria’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will highlight the portfolio we are building to capture the growing smoke-free opportunity, discuss how we are evolving our business and capabilities to lead the U.S. nicotine space and provide more detail on our long-term growth aspirations.
Remarks and Presentation
The presentation will be webcast live on www.altria.com in a listen-only mode, beginning at approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A copy of the business presentation, prepared remarks and a replay of the webcast will be available at www.altria.com.
2026 Full-Year Guidance
We reaffirm our guidance to deliver 2026 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) in a range of $5.56 to $5.72, representing a growth rate of 2.5% to 5.5% from a base of $5.42 in 2025. We expect 2026 adjusted diluted EPS growth to be weighted to the second half of the year, reflecting a progressive increase in cigarette import and export activity over the course of the year.
Our guidance contemplates:
(i) planned investments to support our contract manufacturing capabilities;
(ii) limited impact on combustible and e-vapor product volumes from illicit enforcement efforts; and
(iii) that NJOY ACE does not return to the marketplace in 2026.
Our 2026 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance range includes planned investments in support of our Vision, including cost savings generated from our Optimize & Accelerate initiative (Initiative), such as (i) marketplace activities in support of our smoke-free products and (ii) continued smoke-free product research, development and regulatory preparation expenses.
Our full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance range excludes the impact of certain income and expense items that our management believes are not part of underlying operations. These items may include, for example, loss on early extinguishment of debt, restructuring charges, asset impairment charges, acquisition, disposition and integration-related items, equity investment-related special items, certain income tax items, charges associated with tobacco and health and certain other litigation items, resolutions of certain non-participating manufacturer (NPM) adjustment disputes under the Master Settlement Agreement (NPM Adjustment Items) and amortization expense associated with definite-lived intangible assets. See Schedule 1 below for the income and expense items for the full-year 2025.
Our management cannot estimate on a forward-looking basis the impact of certain income and expense items, including those items noted in the preceding paragraph, on our reported diluted EPS because these items, which could be significant, may be unusual or infrequent, are difficult to predict and may be highly variable. As a result, we do not provide a corresponding U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) measure for, or reconciliation to, our adjusted diluted EPS guidance.
Altria’s Profile
We have a leading portfolio of nicotine products for U.S. nicotine consumers age 21+. We are Moving Beyond Smoking®, by responsibly transitioning adult smokers to a smoke-free future, competing vigorously for existing smoke-free adult nicotine consumers (ANC) and exploring new growth opportunities — beyond the U.S. and beyond nicotine (Vision). To achieve our Vision, we will pursue initiatives designed to promote the long-term welfare of our company, our stakeholders, society at large and the environment.
Our wholly owned subsidiaries include leading manufacturers of both combustible and smoke-free products. In combustibles, we own Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM USA), the most profitable U.S. cigarette manufacturer, and John Middleton Co. (Middleton), a leading U.S. cigar manufacturer. Our smoke-free portfolio includes ownership of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (USSTC), the leading global moist smokeless tobacco (MST) manufacturer, Helix Innovations LLC (Helix), a leading manufacturer of oral nicotine pouches, and NJOY, LLC (NJOY), an e-vapor manufacturer with products covered by marketing granted orders from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Additionally, we have a majority-owned joint venture, Horizon Innovations LLC (Horizon), for the U.S. marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick products.
Our equity investments include Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI), the world’s largest brewer, and Cronos Group Inc. (Cronos), a leading Canadian cannabinoid company.
The brand portfolios of our operating companies include Marlboro®, Black & Mild®, Copenhagen®, Skoal®, on!® and NJOY®. Trademarks related to Altria referenced in this release are the property of Altria or our subsidiaries or are used with permission.
Learn more about Altria at www.altria.com and follow us on X, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This release contains projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements included in this release are described in our publicly filed reports, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. These factors and risks include the following:
You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all factors and risks. Consequently, you should not consider the foregoing list to be complete. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that we may make from time to time except as required by applicable law. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Altria or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements referenced above.
Schedule 1
ALTRIA GROUP, INC.
and Subsidiaries
Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Measures
(dollars in millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Earnings
before
Income Taxes
Provision
for
Income
Taxes
Net
Earnings
Diluted
EPS
2025 Reported
$
9,389
$
2,442
$
6,947
$
4.12
NPM Adjustment Items
(20
)
(5
)
(15
)
(0.01
)
Acquisition and disposition-related items
76
10
66
0.04
Asset impairment, exit and implementation costs
2,184
263
1,921
1.14
Tobacco and health and certain other litigation items
58
14
44
0.03
Amortization of intangibles
132
22
110
0.06
ABI-related special items
95
20
75
0.04
Cronos-related special items
(5
)
—
(5
)
—
Income tax items
—
(5
)
5
—
2025 Adjusted for Special Items
$
11,909
$
2,761
$
9,148
$
5.42
While we report our financial results in accordance with GAAP, our management reviews certain financial results, including diluted EPS, on an adjusted basis, which excludes certain income and expense items, including those items noted under “2026 Full-Year Guidance” in the release. Our management does not view any of these special items to be part of our underlying results as they may be highly variable, may be unusual or infrequent, are difficult to predict and can distort underlying business trends and results. Our management believes that adjusted financial measures provide useful additional insight into underlying business trends and results and provide a more meaningful comparison of year-over-year results. Our management uses adjusted financial measures for planning, forecasting and evaluating business and financial performance, including allocating capital and other resources and evaluating results relative to employee compensation targets. These adjusted financial measures are not required by, or calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may not be calculated the same as similarly titled measures used by other companies. These adjusted financial measures should thus be considered as supplemental in nature and not considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.