Altria Earnings Unimpressive Without Buyback

The maker of Marlboro cigarettes narrowed its full-year 2014 guidance from a range of $2.52 to $2.59 to a new range of $2.54 to $2.59. The company said that lower costs in the fourth quarter are driving expectations that second-half profits will be higher.

Altria also added a new $1 billion stock buyback plan to replace the existing $1 billion program that has approximately $53 million remaining. The existing plan is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, and the new plan is expected to remain in place through all of 2015.

The company’s CEO said:

Our companies are delivering against their strategies and their full-year plans are on track. … We’re also pleased with our progress in innovative products. Nu Mark began its national expansion of MarkTen in June and is achieving strong distribution. Nu Mark also continues to integrate Green Smoke into its business platform, beginning with its supply chain capabilities.

The company rolled out MarkTen brand e-cigarette products to 60,000 retail outlets in the western portion of the United States during the second quarter. Altria said the stores account for 70% of all cigarette industry volume in the region.

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Altria owns about 27% of brewer SABMiller, which increased Altria’s EPS by $0.01 in the quarter, compared with no impact in the same period a year ago.

Needless to report, Altria had nothing to say regarding the Florida jury verdict that awarded $23.6 billion in punitive damages to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer. The industry is pretty comfortable with the way these awards have been cut way down on appeal. Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) has said it will immediately appeal this “runaway verdict.” Altria reported that it paid out $31 million in charges related to a federal lawsuit.

Altria shares were inactive in premarket trading Tuesday, having closed previously at $42.01, down about 0.4%, in a 52-week range of $33.12 to $43.70. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $42.20 before the report.