just some tidbits Altria Group Inc. said Thursday that its iQOS, heat-not-burn cigarette device probably won’t be back in U.S. stores for at least a year, while sales of its traditional cigarettes continued to slide.
The Henrico County-based tobacco giant updated investors on iQOS after being forced to pull it from the U.S. market late last year due to a patent dispute.
The product, marketed as a less harmful alternative to combustible cigarettes, is a tiny share of Altria’s revenue, but key to its 10-year plan to switch its business away from traditional tobacco products.
Most of the company’s revenue gains came from price hikes on Marlboro, Parliament and other cigarette brands. Actual packs sold continued to slide during the period, declining 6% in terms of shipment volumes. The company said it expects full-year 2022 earnings in the range of $4.79 to $4.93 per share.
Altria has been working for years to shift more of its business away from cigarettes amid steady declines in smoking. But that effort has repeatedly been knocked off course.
In the latest example, the company was forced to halt its rollout campaign for iQOS after U.S. officials ruled that its technology infringed on two patents owned by competitor R.J. Reynolds. The Biden administration has declined to intervene in the decision from U.S. International Trade Commission.