Philip Morris International Inc. surged to an all-time high after exceeding profit expectations, driven by strong sales of its Zyn nicotine pouches.
The tobacco company, known for selling Marlboro cigarettes outside the U.S. while transitioning to smoke-free products, reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.55 for the fourth quarter, surpassing analyst forecasts.
It also projected adjusted earnings per share of $7.04 to $7.17 for 2025, exceeding market expectations.
Philip Morris (PM) Q4 CY2024 Highlights:
- Revenue: $9.71 billion vs analyst estimates of $9.44 billion (7.3% year-on-year growth, 2.8% beat)
- Unit sales of nicotine pouches like ZYN rose 46% year-on-year
- Adjusted EPS: $1.55 vs analyst estimates of $1.50 (3.4% beat)
- Adjusted EPS guidance for the upcoming financial year 2025 is $7.11 at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 1.5%
- Operating Margin: 33.6%, up from 31.9% in the same quarter last year
- Sales Volumes were up 2.3% year on year
- Market Capitalization: $203.7 billion
“2024 was a remarkable year for PMI. We delivered very strong full-year results driven by the continued growth of IQOS and ZYN in addition to a robust combustibles performance,” said CEO Jacek Olczak.
Net revenues of $9,706 million increased 7.3% on a reported basis and on an organic basis (excluding currency movements and acquisitions). Revenues came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9,362.4 million, according to media reports.
The increase in organic revenues was backed by positive pricing variance (mainly backed by elevated combustible tobacco pricing) and favorable volume/mix (accountable to increased smoke-free product volumes).
