Altria's Stock Is Rising Despite the Business's Woes: The Wall Street Paradox.

Altria (NYSE: MO) is basically a one-trick pony when it comes to what it sells. Combustible tobacco products -- largely cigarettes -- make up roughly 88% of its top line. This had long been viewed as a problem by investors, but recently, some small positives have left investors willing to overlook the very real problems Altria continues to face.Cigarette sales volumes are in a secular decline: That's the central truth that investors must recognize when they examine Altria as a business. To put some specifics on that, the number of cigarettes the company sold in 2023 fell by a huge 9.9%. In 2022, the number of smokes sold dropped by 9.7%. And in 2021, the decline was 7.5%. That was just three years, and the downtrend has been going on for much longer. To bring it up to date, meanwhile, in the first half of 2024, cigarette volumes dropped 11.5% year over year.Image source: Getty Images.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool