Altria Group's (MO) Q2 Earnings Top Estimates, Sales Down Y/Y

Altria Group, Inc. MO came out with second-quarter 2018 results, wherein adjusted earnings of $1.01 per share came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1 per share and surged 18.8% year-over-year.

The company expects adjusted earnings for 2018 in a range of $3.94-$4.03 per share, reflecting year-over-year growth of 16-19%.

Earnings Estimate Revision: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. However, Altria has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters by an average of about 4.55%.

Altria Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Altria Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Altria Group, Inc. Quote

Revenues: Net revenues of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company declined 5.4% year over year to $6,305 million. Revenues net of excise taxes also went down 3.7% to $4,879 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was $5,039 million.

Key Events: The company repurchased shares for approximately $437 million during the quarter, when it paid dividends worth $1.3 billion.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Altria carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) which is subject to change following the just released earnings results. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Market Reaction

Altria shares were down by 2.02% following the release. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to the results during the trading session today.

Check back later for our full write up on Altria’s earnings report!

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