Altria Group, Inc. 2026 Q3 Earnings Call

Good morning and thank you for joining us. This morning, Sal Mancuso, Altria's CEO, and Heather Newman, our CFO, will discuss Altria's 2026 third quarter and first nine months business results. Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation, and quarterly metrics are all available at altria.com. During our call today, unless otherwise stated, we're comparing results to the same period in 2025. Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our board of directors. We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com. Finally, all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older. With that, I'll turn the call over to Sal.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Altria delivered strong financial performance in the third quarter, growing adjusted diluted earnings per share by 4.8% while continuing to invest in our vision and building on our foundation for the future. In smokeable products, PM USA grew operating companies income through its data-driven total portfolio approach with Cowboy Cut strengthening Marlboro's premium position and Basic continuing to gain share and discount. In smoke-free, Helix made meaningful progress by expanding on! PLUS 12 milligram nationwide, investing in brand-building initiatives, and preparing for its next wave of innovation, which is now underway with the introduction of Blueberry Mint and Mango Pineapple flavor extensions at retail. Our highly cash-generative businesses supported significant returns to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, while we continued to invest in support of our vision.

In August, we announced our 61st dividend increase in 57 years, and our board recently authorized a $1 billion expansion of our existing share repurchase program. Our strong performance through the first nine months and confidence in our full-year plan allowed us to raise our earnings guidance for the year. My remarks this morning will focus on third quarter performance from on! and the evolving regulatory environment. I'll then turn it over to Heather, who will provide further details on our business results and 2026 financial outlook. Let's begin with the nicotine pouch category in our growing on! portfolio. Nicotine pouches continue to drive volume growth in the oral tobacco category, which we estimate increased 5.5% over the past six months. In the third quarter, the nicotine pouch category grew 5.8 share points and now represents more than 60% of the total oral category.

As the category continues to expand, Helix is delivering solid results and strengthening on!'s position in an increasingly competitive marketplace. In the third quarter, on! reported shipment volume increased 13.3% to 47.8 million cans. Year to date, reported shipment volume increased 7.7%. on! retail share was 8.3% in the third quarter, up one tenth versus the prior year and down three tenths sequentially. This performance is encouraging as on!'s retail price continued to move higher and competitive investment remained elevated across the category during the quarter. Higher nicotine strengths and broader flavor variety continue to drive growth in the nicotine pouch category, and Helix is expanding on! PLUS to better meet this consumer demand. In the third quarter, Helix expanded on! PLUS 12 milligram nationally across mint, wintergreen, and tobacco, and this month introduced Blueberry Mint and Mango Pineapple.

We're excited to announce that Watermelon Mint will join the portfolio in select retail locations in November, with plans for more flavor innovation to come. We believe these additions strengthen the on! PLUS portfolio and are supporting it with superior retail execution. Earlier this year, Helix launched a retail trade program that secured premium positioning in stores representing approximately 90% of its volume. In an increasingly competitive category, we believe this positioning provides valuable visibility to support awareness, trial, and conversion. Beyond retail, Helix continues to invest in building the on! brand and creating distinctive consumer experiences. Earlier this month, Helix hosted the inaugural on!vitational, an invite-only golf tournament in Palm Beach, Florida. The event gave on! consumers the chance to compete alongside athletes and golf personalities. Helix highlighted the tournament with digital content designed to extend its adult nicotine consumer reach beyond the event itself.

Planned as a multi-year platform, we believe the on!vitational can become a signature brand experience that builds lasting equity and further differentiates on! over time. These efforts are grounded in responsibility with safeguards to limit reach to underage audiences and a strong focus on regulatory compliance. We're encouraged by the progress Helix has made so far this year and the foundation it is building for future growth. With a broader on! PLUS portfolio, premium retail visibility, and growing brand equity, we continue to believe on! is well-positioned to compete and drive long-term profitable growth in the category. From a regulatory perspective, the FDA's enforcement guidance allowed Helix to move through the regulatory process more efficiently. However, guidance can change. Sustained progress on harm reduction requires a more durable foundation, an efficient and predictable authorization process established through rulemaking.

That's why Helix and NJOY brought legal action against the FDA during the quarter. The complaint asked the court to require the FDA to establish a review process that meets the 180-day timeframe set by Congress and to allow our products with applications pending beyond that timeframe to be in market while the agency puts a new process in place. Following the filing, the FDA announced plans to evaluate changes to the PMTA framework. The agency acknowledged challenges it has faced implementing the 2021 PMTA rule, including the widespread growth of the illicit market and slow pace of new product authorizations, and intends to pursue new rulemaking. We welcome this development and believe the modernized framework that maintains a high bar with rigorous standards for new products and provides greater clarity, predictability, and efficiency is critical to advancing the long-term harm reduction opportunity.

A more efficient authorization process must be paired with consistent illicit product enforcement. On that front, we continue to see encouraging progress on illicit e-vapor enforcement as federal, state, and local policymakers and law enforcement take meaningful steps to close gaps and hold bad actors accountable across the supply chain. These enforcement efforts appear to be impacting e-vapor category dynamics. At the end of September, we estimate there were approximately 20 million adult vapers, down 1 million versus year ago, primarily driven by fewer e-vapor consumers using illicit products. Ultimately, we believe sustained enforcement and a more efficient authorization process are both necessary to establish a level playing field for legal manufacturers and expand access to high-quality smoke-free products for adult nicotine consumers. We remain confident in the opportunities in front of us.

The breadth of our portfolio, the passion of our talented employees, our manufacturing capabilities, and the financial flexibility supported by PM USA's import/export activity position us to deliver strong shareholder returns while investing for the future. With that, I'll turn the call over to Heather to provide additional details on our business and financial results.

Thanks, Sal, and good morning everyone. Altria's operating companies effectively executed their strategies and delivered impressive third quarter and first nine months financial performance. Adjusted diluted EPS increased 4.8% in the third quarter and by 5.1% for the first nine months. We delivered these results in an environment of continued economic pressure on adult smokers. The overall cost of goods and services has risen roughly 30% since 2021, putting sustained pressure on household budgets, while more recent increases in gas prices have further constrained discretionary income. Against this backdrop, the smokable product segment remained the key contributor to earnings growth. Our smokable strategy is to maximize profitability over the long term while balancing investments in Marlboro and funding the growth of smoke-free products. PM USA's portfolio approach supports this strategy by offering options across brands and price points while driving strong financial results.

Adjusted operating company's income grew by 3.9% to $3.1 billion in the third quarter and by 4.1% to $8.8 billion for the first nine months. Adjusted OCI margins expanded to 64.5% for the third quarter and 64.8% for the first nine months, up 0.1 percentage point and 0.4 percentage points respectively. Price realization was 4.4% for the quarter, reflecting the mix impact of both Marlboro Cowboy Cut and Basic's volume growth. Smokable volumes decline remained moderate. Reported domestic cigarette volumes declined by 2.9% in the third quarter and 2.8% for the first nine months. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate domestic cigarette volumes for the third quarter and for the first nine months declined by 4%, slightly below an estimated 5% decline for the industry. Within the highly profitable premium segment, Marlboro strengthened its longstanding leadership position.

The introduction of Cowboy Cut provided price-sensitive Marlboro smokers with a premium option in a challenging economic environment, contributing to Marlboro share performance in the third quarter. Marlboro expanded its share premium segment to 60%, up three-tenths versus the prior year and four-tenths sequentially. Marlboro's overall retail share was unchanged sequentially and down one share point versus the year ago period, as economic pressures continue to drive discount segment growth. In the third quarter, discount retail share grew by two share points and is now 34.1% of the category. Basic continues to support PM USA's RGM strategy by providing a competitive offering in stores where discount brands are most relevant. During the quarter, Basic's retail share expanded by three-tenths sequentially and 1.8 share points year over year. The combined performance of Marlboro and Basic reflects the effectiveness of PM USA's total portfolio approach.