The Gory Details on Altria Group's Double Miss

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Altria Group (NYS: MO) reported earnings on July 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Altria Group missed estimates on revenues and missed slightly on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share expanded. GAAP earnings per share grew.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Altria Group logged revenue of $4.53 billion. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $4.62 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 38% higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.58 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.62. The 11 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.63 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.62 for Q2 were 5.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.59 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.63 for Q2 were 5.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.60 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 40.5%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 31.8%, 970 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 20.1%, 660 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.51 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.63.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $17.60 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.40.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 8,647 members out of 8,973 rating the stock outperform, and 326 members rating it underperform. Among 2,103 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 2,066 give Altria Group a green thumbs-up, and 37 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Altria Group is outperform, with an average price target of $36.58.

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The article The Gory Details on Altria Group's Double Miss originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Movado Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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