Despite Pandemic, Stockpiling Boosts Altria’s Cigarette Brands
- Negative publicity drives e-cigarette users back to smoking
- Growth of oral products and IQOS hampered by Covid-19
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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A pandemic caused by a respiratory disease hasn’t scared off America’s smokers -- at least not yet.
Altria Group Inc.’s first-quarter sales of smokeable products, like Marlboro cigarettes, jumped 14%. Negative publicity around e-cigarettes helped by pushing older smokers who had adopted vaping back to cigarettes. And lots of bulk purchases -- what the company calls “pantry loading” -- boosted revenue.