Why Is Philip Morris Stock Falling Today?

Philip Morris International Inc PM shares are trading lower after the company announced its fourth-quarter results.

Quarterly revenues of $9.047 billion marginally beat the analyst consensus of $9.01 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.36 missed the street view of $1.45.  

Net revenues increased by 8.3% on an organic basis, mainly reflecting a favorable pricing variance, primarily driven by higher combustible tobacco pricing.

The company witnessed a combustible tobacco net revenue growth of 5.3% on both a reported and organic basis, driven by pricing of 9.9%.

Philip Morris reported that the ZYN nicotine pouch shipment volume in the U.S. was 116.3 million cans, representing a growth of 78.2% versus fourth-quarter 2022 Swedish Match shipments of 65.3 million cans.

Adjusted in-market sales volume for HTUs, which excludes the net unfavorable impact of estimated distributor and wholesaler inventory movements, were up by an estimated 13.9% in the quarter under review.

Adjusted operating income rose 2.6% to $3.052 billion. Adjusted operating income margin stands at 33.7%, lower than 36.5% in the year-ago period.

Outlook: For 2024, the company sees net revenue growth of 6.5% to 8% on an organic basis, with adjusted EPS of $6.32-$6.44 (estimate $6.60).

For the first quarter, the company projects adjusted EPS of $1.37-$1.42, including an estimated adverse currency impact of 10 cents at prevailing exchange rates (Wall Street estimate: $1.42).

Price Action: PM shares are trading lower by 2.48% to $89.18 on the last check Thursday.