In its earnings call this week, Altria Group Inc. reported total net revenues decreased 1.7% to $6.1 billion, primarily driven by “lower net revenues in the smokeable products segment, partially offset by higher net revenues in the oral tobacco products segment,” the company said of its 2025 second-quarter and first-half business results.
In the second quarter, Altria’s oral tobacco products’ retail share was “33.1%, as share declines for moist smokeless tobacco (MST) products were partially offset by oral nicotine pouch growth. The total U.S. oral tobacco category share for on! nicotine pouches was 8.7%, an increase of 0.7 share points versus the prior year.”
Altria said the U.S. nicotine pouch category “grew to 52.0% of the U.S. oral tobacco category, an increase of 10.0 share points versus the prior year. In addition, on!’s share of the nicotine pouch category was 16.7%, a decrease of 2.3 share points versus the prior year.”
“In the second quarter, we continued the pursuit of our vision while maintaining our strong and profitable core businesses,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s chief executive officer. “In oral tobacco, on! delivered strong performance and was the substantial driver of the segment’s growth in the quarter. And we returned significant value to our loyal shareholders during the first-half of the year, with more than $4 billion delivered through dividends and share repurchases.”
Altria highlighted its guidance “contemplates the current estimated impact of increased tariffs on our costs, based on presently available information about tariffs. In addition, our guidance assumes limited impact on combustible and e-vapor product volumes from enforcement efforts against products that have evaded the regulatory process (illicit) and that ACE does not return to the marketplace this year.”
The company said it will continue to monitor conditions related to the economy, including the cumulative impact of inflation and increased tariffs, adult tobacco consumer (ATC) dynamics, including purchasing patterns and adoption of smoke-free products, illicit product enforcement and regulatory, litigation and legislative developments.
In April the company saw an uptick in nicotine pouch demand. The quarterly shipment volume for cigarettes fell 13.7%, compared with a 10% decline year over year, while the shipment volume for on! nicotine pouches rose 18% for the first quarter.