Bull of the Day: Philip Morris (PM)
Philip Morris Company Overview
Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock Philip Morris International (PM) is an international manufacturer and seller of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and oral nicotine products in over 180 countries. In early 2008, Philip Morris International was spun off from the Altria Group. The company built the foundation of its business on its premium cigarette brand category with its well-known Marlboro, Parliament, and Virginia Slim Brands. While the cigarette category continues to make up the lion’s share of Philip Morris’s business, it is rapidly expanding its non-cigarette businesses and becoming a more diverse brand.
Zyn Smoke-Free Business Explodes
Instead of sitting back and relying on its legacy core business of cigarettes, Philip Morris has realized that as consumers learn more about the dangers of lung cancer and become more health-conscious, they are looking for smoke-free options. Philip Morris’ most successful foray into the smoke-free business is Zyn, an oral nicotine pouch that benefits from the move away from traditional tobacco.
Zyn has benefited from its virality on the social media platform TikTok and has grown to own roughly three-quarters of the tobacco pouch market. Not only are the pouches seen as “cool,” but many younger consumers are flocking to them because they eliminate the most harmful way of nicotine delivery – smoking. In addition, while it can be addictive, nicotine has also been shown to have positive traits, such as the fact that it can increase focus. Shipments of Zyn have more than quintupled over the past five years, with growth expected to continue.
Philip Morris: Steady Growth & Price Action
Though Philip Morris does not produce the high double-digit earnings growth seen in many growth stocks, the company makes up for it with its steadiness and consistency. Over the past three quarters, EPS grew +14%, +14%, and +13% year-over-year. In addition, annual earnings have grown consistently over the past three years.
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PM’s steadiness goes beyond its fundamentals and translates to its price action. Shares have a beta of 0.14, meaning they are far less volatile than the S&P 500 Index. Nevertheless, PM has performed better than 95% of S&P 500 stocks.
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PM Defies Wall Street Expectations
PM has beaten Zacks Consensus Analyst Estimates in nineteen of the past twenty quarters.
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Assuming the trend continues, that’s good news for PM shareholders because consensus estimates suggest double-digit EPS growth into 2026. Meanwhile, the company has very low costs and a healthy cash stack.
Bottom Line
Philip Morris is strategically evolving beyond its traditional cigarette business, exemplified by the remarkable success of its “Zyn” oral nicotine patch business.
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Philip Morris International Inc. (PM): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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