Philip Morris International (PM 3.83%) stock lost ground in Tuesday's trading following the company's latest earnings report. The tobacco giant's share price fell 3.8% in the session and had been down as much as 10% at one point in the session. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ended the day roughly flatly in line with yesterday's level.
Philip Morris published its third-quarter results before today's daily trading session began. Despite delivering sales and earnings results that beat expectations and a raise for full-year guidance targets, the stock lost ground today.
Image source: Getty Images.
Philip Morris stock sinks despite Q3 beats
Philip Morris' sales increased 9.5% year over year in the third quarter, and the performance helped power a substantial earnings beat. The average analyst estimate had called for non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $2.10 on sales of approximately $10.66 billion in the period. Strong sales for for the company's smokeless products helped power the period's performance beats.
NYSE: PM
Key Data Points
What's next for Philip Morris?
Following stronger-than-anticipated performance in Q3, Philip Morris opted to raise its earnings guidance for the year. The company now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to be between 13.5% and 15.1% -- up from its previous guidance for growth between 12% and 13.5%. Volume for smoke-free products is expected to be up between 12% and 14% year over year and help support per-share profit growth.
Despite encouraging guidance revisions, Philip Morris stock lost ground today in response to some investors expecting even stronger performance outlooks for earnings and smoke-free product volumes. But even though the stock took a step back today, performance for the company's diversification bets still looks promising overall.
