New York, May 9, 2026, 17:02 EDT
- Altria dropped roughly 1.3% Friday, marking five straight sessions in the red.
- Shares slipped despite a first-quarter earnings beat, just ahead of the company’s annual meeting scheduled for May 14.
- Cigarette price hikes are on the table, but investors are also eyeing weaker volumes and more intense rivalry in the nicotine pouch space.
U.S. markets were shut Saturday, leaving Altria Group at Friday’s $68.12 close—off 1.3% and marking a five-session slump for the Marlboro parent. Philip Morris International hardly budged, finishing at $170.99. British American Tobacco’s U.S. shares picked up 0.4%, ending at $58.28.
This one landed after a strong earnings-fueled surge. Altria is now trading 8.6% below its 52-week high of $74.56 from May 1, raising new questions about how long the company can rely on price hikes, buybacks, and that dividend to counter headwinds in its core cigarette segment.
That’s not the only date on the calendar. Altria’s annual meeting is set for May 14, 9 a.m. Eastern, this year—shareholders on record as of March 25 will have the option to vote and send in questions online, if there’s time.
Altria posted first-quarter net revenue of $5.43 billion, up 3.2%. After removing excise taxes, revenue climbed 5.3% to $4.76 billion. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which exclude special items, landed at $1.32 — a 7.3% increase. The company stuck with its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook, still targeting $5.56 to $5.72.
Chief Executive Billy Gifford described the quarter as a “strong start to the year,” adding that smokeable products brought in “strong income growth.” Still, the numbers spell out the underlying shift: smokeable products revenue climbed 2.9%, but domestic cigarette shipments slipped 2.4%. Marlboro’s share of the U.S. cigarette market also edged down, losing 1.4 percentage points to 39.7%. Altria Investor Relations
Things look messier in the oral segment. Altria’s on! brand shipped 46.2 million nicotine pouch cans, up 17.6%, but overall oral tobacco shipments dropped 3.1%. The company noted the U.S. nicotine pouch slice now makes up 58.1% of the oral tobacco market, yet on!’s share within pouches slipped 4.2 points to 13.4%.
Competitors have zeroed in there. Philip Morris reported a 23.5% drop in U.S. Zyn shipments for the first quarter, down to 155 million cans. Reuters pointed to stiffer competition and regulatory hang-ups as factors. “Velo would be the ‘likely beneficiary’ of Zyn’s volume pressure,” Jefferies analyst Andrei Andon-Ionita noted. Reuters
BAT is pitching Velo as a key engine for growth. Back in February, Reuters pointed out that Velo had moved up to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. nicotine pouch market, trailing only Zyn, and was chipping away at market share from both Zyn and Altria’s on! brand—higher nicotine levels and more aggressive pricing gave it an edge. “Plenty of opportunity” remains for Velo’s expansion, according to BAT CEO Tadeu Marroco. Reuters
Wall Street’s take on Altria is far from unanimous. According to MarketBeat, 12 analysts weigh in with a consensus “Hold” rating—split across five buys, five holds, and two sells. Their average price target? $69.22, which barely tops Friday’s close.MarketBeat
Cash returns are still front and center for income-focused investors. Altria reported paying out $1.78 billion in common dividends in the first quarter and bought back $280 million of its own stock. The company had 1.67 billion shares outstanding as of April 22, according to its latest quarterly filing.
The downside isn’t just a hypothetical: Altria flags ongoing litigation, FDA crackdowns, illicit e-vapor and oral pouch products, higher taxes, and consumers trading down to cheaper options as real threats facing the U.S. nicotine sector. The company’s outlook also bakes in that NJOY ACE—a pod-based vape—stays off the U.S. market through 2026.
Altria’s case is getting squeezed. Bulls hang their hats on the dividend, buybacks, and pricing power in cigarettes. Bears counter with shrinking volumes, more pressure from pouches, and regulatory overhang. Friday’s drop left things unresolved—next week’s shareholder meeting just got a lot less routine.
