Altria Group Inc. MO, +0.04% said Thursday it had net income of $1.424 billion, or 77 cents a share, in the first quarter, down from $1.552 billion, or 83 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.07, ahead of the $1.05 FactSet consensus. Revenue fell 5.1% to $6.036 billion from $6.359 billion. Revenue net of excise taxes came to $4.880 billion, just below the $4.976 billion FactSet consensus. “Against a challenging comparison, our tobacco businesses performed well in the first quarter and we continued to make progress advancing our non-combustible portfolio,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s Chief Executive, in a statement. The company said it has acquired full ownership of On! oral nicotine pouches as it moves beyond smoking in a world increasingly moving away from combustible tobacco. The company said it recorded a non-cash, pre-tax unrealized loss of $200 million as a result of a decrease in the fair value of JUUL, which was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It said Canadian cannabis company Cronos CRON, +2.56% ca:cron was also hurt by the pandemic, which limited access to retail stories. The company said it still expects full-year adjusted EPS to range from $4.49 to $4.62. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $4.58. Shares were up 0.6% premarket and have gained 15% in the year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.48% [ has gained 10.5% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% has gained 11.4%.
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