(Reuters) -Philip Morris International hiked its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, delivering early on investor hopes for outlook raises throughout 2025, thanks to the performance of newer products, including the nicotine pouch brand ZYN. Investors have cheered the Marlboro maker’s performance in recent quarters, as it has beaten forecasts and raised its outlook amid growth […]
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Marlboro maker Philip Morris lifts profit forecast on ZYN demand
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(Reuters) -Philip Morris International hiked its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, delivering early on investor hopes for outlook raises throughout 2025, thanks to the performance of newer products, including the nicotine pouch brand ZYN.
Investors have cheered the Marlboro maker’s performance in recent quarters, as it has beaten forecasts and raised its outlook amid growth in newer products like ZYN and rising cigarette prices.
Shares of the company, which are up about 36% so far this year, rose more than 4.5% and remained 2.4% higher at 1705 GMT.
ZYN’s surging popularity quickly rebounded after supply issues constrained sales last year, driven particularly by U.S. consumers seeking smoking alternatives.
Its quarterly ZYN shipment volume in the U.S. grew 53%, compared to a year earlier. It was up 42% in the fourth quarter.
Its flagship alternative product, heated tobacco device IQOS, also saw continued strength due to growth in regions like Europe and Japan. It launched on a limited scale in Texas earlier this year for $60 per device.
The company has been investing heavily in its portfolio of smoking alternatives with the aim of generating half of its sales from smoke-free products by the end of 2025.
The impact of U.S. tariffs on PMI’s business is, as things stand, “completely minimal”, CEO Jacek Olczak told Reuters.
ZYN, PMI’s most widely sold product in the U.S., is produced there but some components are imported, Olczak said, adding changes can be made to the supply chain if necessary.
Olczak said he did not expect staff cuts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which authorises nicotine products for sale in the United States, to impact the timing of an application to sell a later version of the IQOS device.
Philip Morris expects adjusted annual profit in the range of $7.36 to $7.49 per share, compared with its prior forecast between $7.04 and $7.17.
Its first-quarter revenue and adjusted profit both beat analyst forecasts, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru and Emma Rumney in London; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Kirsten Donovan)