Altria Aktie

Good day, and welcome to the Altria Group 2026 3rd quarter earnings conference call. Today's call is scheduled to last about 1 hour, including remarks by Altria's management and a question-and-answer session. Representatives of the investment community and media on the call will be able to ask questions following the conclusion of the prepared remarks. I would now like to turn the call over to Mac Livingston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Olivia. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This morning, Sal Mancuso, Altria's CEO; and Heather Newman, our CFO, will discuss Altria's 2026 and third quarter and first 9 months business results.

Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation and quarterly metrics are all available at altria.com. During our call today, unless otherwise stated, we're comparing results to the same period in 2025. Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.

We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com.

Finally, all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older. With that, I'll turn the call over to Sal.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Altria delivered strong financial performance in the third quarter, growing adjusted diluted earnings per share by 4.8%, while continuing to invest in our vision and building on our foundation for the future. In smokable products, PM USA grew operating company's income through its data-driven total portfolio approach with Cowboy Cut strengthening Marboloro's premium position and basic continuing to gain share in discount.

In smoke-free, Helix made meaningful progress by expanding on! PLUS 12-milligram nationwide, investing in brand-building initiatives and preparing for its next wave of innovation, which is now underway with the introduction of Blueberry Mint and Mango and pineapple flavor extensions at retail. Our highly cash-generative businesses supported significant returns to shareholders. through dividends and share repurchases, while we continue to invest in support of our vision. In August, we announced our first dividend increase in 57 years and our Board recently authorized a $1 billion expansion of our existing share repurchase program. Our strong performance through the first 9 months and confidence in our full year plan allowed us to raise our earnings guidance for the year. My remarks this morning will focus on third quarter performance from on! and the evolving regulatory environment.

I'll then turn it over to Heather, who will provide further details on our business results and 2026 financial outlook. Let's begin with the nicotine pouch category and are growing on! portfolio. Nicotine pouches continue to drive volume growth in the oral tobacco category which we estimate increased 5.5% over the past 6 months. In the third quarter, the nicotine pouch category grew 5.8 share points and now represents more than 60% of the total oral category. As the category continues to expand, Helix is delivering solid results and strengthening on!'s position in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

In the third quarter, on! reported shipment volume increased 13.3% to 47.8 million cans. Year-to-date, reported shipment volume increased 7.7%. On! retail share was 8.3% in the third quarter, up 1 versus the prior year and down sequentially. This performance is encouraging as ON's retail price continued to move higher and competitive investment remained elevated across the category during the quarter. Higher nicotine strengths and broader flavor variety continue to drive growth in the nicotine pouch category. And Helix is expanding on! to better meet this consumer demand. In the third quarter, Helix expanded on! PLUS 12-milligram nationally across a Wintergreen and tobacco. And this month, introduced Blueberry Mint and Mango Pineapple and we're excited to announce that Watermelon Mint will join the portfolio in select retail locations in November with plans for more flavor innovation to come.

We believe these additions strengthen the on! PLUS portfolio and are supporting it with superior retail execution. Earlier this year, Helix launched a retail trade program that secured premium positioning and stores representing approximately 90% of its volume. In an increasingly competitive category, we believe this positioning provides valuable visibility to support awareness, trial and conversion. Beyond retail, Helix continues to invest in building beyond brand and creating distinctive consumer experiences.

Earlier this month, Helix hosted the inaugural [ on!vitational ] and invite-only golf tournament in Palm Beach, Florida. The event gave on! consumers a chance to compete alongside athletes and golf personalities. Helix highlighted the tournament with digital content design to end its adult nicotine consumer reach beyond the event itself. Planned as a multiyear platform. We believe the [indiscernible] can become a signature brand experience that builds lasting equity and further differentiates on! over time. These efforts are grounded in responsibility with safeguards to limit reach to underage audiences and a strong focus on regulatory compliance.

We're encouraged by the progress Helix has made so far this year and the foundation it is building for future growth. with a broader on! PLUS portfolio, premium retail visibility and growing brand equity, we continue to believe on! is well positioned to compete and drive long-term profitable growth in the category. From a regulatory perspective, the FDA's enforcement guidance allowed Helix to move through the regulatory process more efficiently. However, guidance can change. sustained progress on harm reduction requires a more durable foundation, an efficient and predictable authorization process established to rulemaking. That's why Helix and Enjoy brought legal action against the FDA during the quarter. The complaint asked the court to require the FDA to establish a review process that meets the 180-day time frame set by Congress and to allow our products with applications pending beyond that time frame to be in market while the agency puts a new process in place.

Following the filing, the FDA announced plans to evaluate changes to the PMTA framework. The agency acknowledged challenges it has faced implementing the 2021 PMTA rule, including the widespread growth of the illicit market and slow pace of new product authorizations and intends to pursue new rulemaking. We welcome this development and believe the modernize framework that maintains a high bar, with rigorous standards for new products and provides greater clarity, predictability and efficiency is critical to advancing the long-term harm reduction opportunity. A more efficient authorization process must be paired with consistent illicit product enforcement. On that front, we continue to see encouraging progress on illicit e-vapor enforcement as federal, state and local policymakers and law enforcement take meaningful steps to close the gaps and hold bad actors accountable across the supply chain.

These enforcement efforts appear to be impacting e-vapor category dynamics. At the end of September, we estimate there were approximately 20 million adult vapers, down $1 million versus a year ago, primarily driven by fewer e-vapor consumers using illicit products. Ultimately, we believe sustained enforcement and a more efficient authorization process are both necessary to establish a level playing field for legal manufacturers and expand access to high-quality smoke-free products for adult nicotine consumers. We remain confident in the opportunities in front of us. The breadth of our portfolio, the passion of our talented employees, our manufacturing capabilities and the financial flexibility supported by PM USA's import export activity position us to deliver strong shareholder returns while investing for the future.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Heather to provide additional details on our business and financial results.

Thanks, Sal, and good morning, everyone. Altria's operating companies effectively executed their strategies and delivered impressive third quarter and first 9 months financial performance. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 4.8% in the third quarter and by 5.1% for the first 9 months. We delivered these results in an environment of continued economic pressure on adult smokers. The overall cost of goods and services has risen roughly 30% since 2021. And putting sustained pressure on household budgets while more recent increases in gas prices have further constrained discretionary income.

Against this backdrop, the smokeable products segment remains the key contributor to earnings growth. Our smokeable strategy is to maximize profitability over the long term, while balancing investments in Marlboro and funding the growth of smoke-free products. PM USA's portfolio approach supports this strategy by offering options across brands and price points, while driving strong financial results. Adjusted operating company's income grew by 3.9% to $3.1 billion in the third quarter and by 4.1% to $8.8 billion for the first 9 months.

Adjusted OCI margins expanded to 64.5% for the third quarter and 64.8% for the first 9 months, up 0.1 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. Price realization was 4.4% for the quarter. reflecting the mix impact of both Marlboro Cowboy Cut and basic volume growth. Smokeable volumes declined remained moderate. Reported domestic cigarette volumes declined by 2.9% in the third quarter and 2.8% for the first 9 months. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate domestic cigarette volumes for the third quarter and for the first 9 months declined by 4%, slightly below an estimated 5% decline for the industry. Within the highly profitable premium segment, Marlboro strengthened its long-standing leadership position.

The introduction of Cowboy Cut provided price-sensitive Marlboro smokers with a premium option in a challenging economic environment, contributing to moral share performance in the third quarter. Marlboro expanded its share premium segment to 60% up 0.3% versus the prior year and 4/ %10 sequentially. Marlboro's overall retail share was unchanged sequentially and down 1 share point versus the year ago period. as economic pressures continue to drive discount segment growth. In the third quarter, discount retail share grew by 2 share points and is now 34.1% of the category.

Basic continues to support PM USA's RGM strategy by providing a competitive offering in stores where discount brands are most relevant. During the quarter, basics retail share expanded by 3/10 sequentially and 1.8 share points year-over-year. The combined performance of Marlboro and Basic reflects the effectiveness of PM USA's total portfolio approach. Total PM USA retail share expanded 2 share point sequentially and 0.3 versus a year ago. In cigars, for the third quarter and first 9 months, reported shipment volume increased 0.9% and 2%, respectively, as Middleton continued to significantly outperform in a declining large mass cigar industry.

Let's now turn to the Oral Tobacco Products segment. Financial results reflect continued investment behind on! PLUS and the impact of lower MST volumes. Adjusted OCI decreased by 3.7% to $443 million in the third quarter and by 4% to $1.3 billion for the first 9 months. Adjusted OCI margins remained strong at 66.4% for the third quarter and 66.8% for the first 9 months. Total segment reported shipment volume decreased 4.3% for the third quarter and 5.4% for the first 9 months as growth in on! was more than offset by the lower MST volumes. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate third quarter and first 9 months oral tobacco products segment volumes both declined by an estimated 5%.

Oral Tobacco Products segment retail share was 27.9% for the third quarter and 28.6% for the first 9 months. In the highly profitable moist smokeless tobacco segment, Copenhagen maintained its long-standing premium leadership. Turning to ABI's financial results. we recorded $191 million of adjusted equity earnings in the third quarter, up 21.7% versus the prior year. We continue to view our ABI stake as a financial investment and our goal remains to maximize the long-term value of the investment for our shareholders. Our strong financial performance for the first 9 months enabled us to return over $6 billion to our shareholders. including $5.3 billion in dividends and $735 million in share repurchases. We remain committed to providing significant cash returns to our shareholders as demonstrated by our recent dividend increase.

In August, our Board increased our quarterly dividend by 4.7% to $1.11 per share, our 61st increase in 57 years. and consistent with our progressive dividend goal of mid-single-digit annual growth. And today, we announced that our Board authorized a $1 billion expansion of our existing share repurchase program. which now expires on December 31, 2027. In addition, our balance sheet remains strong. Our debt-to-EBITDA ratio as of September 30 was 1.9x, in line with our target of approximately 2x.

Finally, let's turn to our financial outlook. Our businesses performed extremely well in a dynamic environment during the first 9 months of the year, and we maintain the strength of our core tobacco businesses while investing towards our vision. As a result, we raised our earnings guidance and now expect to deliver adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.66 to $5.74 and representing a growth rate of 4.5% to 6% from a base of $5.42 in 2025.

With that, we'll wrap up, and Sal and I will be happy to take your questions. While the calls are being compiled, I'll remind you that today's earnings release and our non-GAAP reconciliations are available on altria.com. We've also posted our quarterly metrics, which include pricing, inventory and other items. Operator, let's open the question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions]. The first question is from Faham Baig at UBS.

A couple of questions from me, please. Firstly, on industry cigarette volumes and then on Marlboro Cowboy cut. So on the industry, the volumes have remained pretty resilient this year, and it looks like the sequential growth in the discount segment moderated somewhat this quarter despite the higher gasoline prices. Are there any particular factors you would call out behind the resilience. And more broadly, are you seeing any evidence that the pressure on the smoker is beginning to ease?

And then secondly, on Cowboy cut. Can you maybe help us understand where you see the sub-brands positioning within the broader Marlboro portfolio? I know initially it was launched at a discount to Marlboro Black, but we're now seeing priced above black in some states, while in other states, it's sort of yet to be introduced. How should we think about the positioning and the intended role of Cowboy cut longer term?

Yes, terrific. And thanks for your questions. Two really good questions. So let's start with the industry volume. The consumer continues to be under economic pressure. No doubt, the inflation, which has been in place for multiple years, continues to put pressure on their everyday goods. I would say, though, that nicotine historically has been a little bit more resilient than other CPG categories, for sure. But when you look at the moderation of the decline rates that you're seeing in the cigarette category, that's primarily being driven by the lower cost category movement from the illicit e-vapor category.

And I would say probably two factors are driving that. One is these products have been in the market for multiple years now. So consumers that were interested in it have moved. And then the second factor is, as we talked about earlier, the focus on enforcement for [ licin ] products, we think that is having some impact. Now we need that -- those efforts to be sustained and to continue but it's definitely having an impact on supply chain in our minds.

As far as Cowboy cut, let's start with the smokable strategy, which is to maximize profitability over the long term and balance investments in Marlboro with investments in our long-term vision. Cowboy cut provides a premium Marlboro option at the right price to retain value-sensitive smokers within that franchise. It delivers a classic mobile experience and is supported by brand equity that draws on its American heritage and complements the nation's 250th celebration. It's pretty widely distributed. It's in about 10 stores, which is about 75% of the cigarette volume. And it's a strategy we've deployed before. You've seen it with Marlboro Special Select, you've seen it with Marlboro Black, where you have introductory pricing, and then you will see PMA take pricing or margin up those over time.

Obviously, you talked about different states and different pricing. Well, that's reflective of the data analytics and RGM tools that came has been able to deploy. So we're really, really pleased with the impact on Marlboro. You saw Marlboro share premium has reached about 60%. It's up 3% year-over-year. So we feel really good about the overall performance of our smokeable segment and the cigar category, in particular.

Next question is from Matt Smith at Stifel.

Just wanted to come back to the raise of the full year guidance for EPS. Can you talk about where you're seeing strength relative to your previous expectations? And have you stepped up your investment levels behind some of the initiatives, whether it's behind the smoke-free vision investments or in combustible and leaned into the volume opportunity that becomes the future pricing opportunity over time.

SP265679286 Matt, thanks for the question. Just as a reminder, in the beginning of the year, we did have our guidance range, 2.5% to 5%. And as we performed really strongly through the first 9 months, it's given us confidence to not only narrow, but raise the guidance to the 4.5% to 6% I will say that's inclusive of investments that we tend to invest in our smoke-free vision really around on! PLUS and you're starting to see that play out in the marketplace with the 12-milligram product as well as our flavor line extensions.

The other thing that we're mindful of is that we continue to be challenged by a pretty difficult macroeconomic environment for the consumer. We feel great about our RTM capabilities to manage through that environment as they remain under pressure. Gas prices are still elevated, Sal's already talked about inflation, but this new guidance range of the 4.5% to 6%, we feel really confident that we can deliver throughout the rest of the year.

Appreciate that, Heather. And a follow-up on the quarter. duty drawback, I think it was $124 million revenue benefit. Previously, you talked about it being pretty equally phased in the second half of the year. Does that -- is the third quarter level a reasonable amount for the fourth quarter? I know there's some catch-up timing in there. I'll pass it on after that.

Yes. I appreciate it. Our expectations have not changed. We did have some slight benefit in Q2 from a timing of the FET credit that we benefited from in our expectations for the second half of the year in terms of stepping up and the imbalance between the quarters has not changed.

The next question is from Bonnie Herzog at Goldman Sachs.

I had a quick follow-up on what you just touched on, Heather. In terms of the double duty drawback benefit, you did export 10% of your SIG volume in Q3. So I guess I was hoping to hear a little more color on how we should think about your ability to ramp this further next year, especially given your contract manufacturing agreement with Philip Morris will kick in. So if you could talk about that also, that would be appreciated.

Yes. Thank you, Bonnie, so in the first half of the year, we were really establishing the contract manufacturing arrangements and then we communicated that step-up balanced approach through the second half of the year. without getting too far ahead in terms of expectations for 2027. You are right to call out that, that PMI agreement does not start until 2027. And so that benefit will certainly kick in. what we're working against and where you see the increase from Q2 to Q3 is our current CMA arrangements. And again, without getting too far ahead, we expect to be pretty balanced across the Q3 and Q4 here.

Okay. And then maybe if I could just switch gears a bit and I have a question on vapor, which you touched on. But just in terms of Enjoy ACE, I believe you've addressed the patent infringement issues and you're able to bring the product back to the market. So curious if you're planning on doing this maybe soon? And how you're thinking about what role vapor can ultimately play in your smoke-free portfolio? And then if or when you bring it back to the market, I guess I'm trying to understand how you're going to manage it? I mean, would you manage it differently or run the business differently than what you had done before because I'm thinking about the substantial operating losses you used to have on the brand.

Bonnie, so you are correct to point out that we have worked around the patent issues that forced us to pull enjoy as out of the market. We have not announced when we're going back in the market, but we do plan on being back in the e-vapor market. You're also right to point out that our approach is going to be, I would say, I would characterize it as very disciplined. The market, while we've seen some improvement is still predominantly driven by the illicit category. And we want to compete in the market, but we want to do it in a disciplined way and in a profitable way over time.

So for us, we continue to engage with stakeholders to drive enforcement activity to maintain or sustain it over time. We also recognize that it's important for the FDA to authorize products more quickly. We also recognize that there are certain attributes related to the illicit category that appeal to the consumers. So if you think about our innovative pipeline, we want to delight the consumer over time. So we continue to innovate further on enjoy age. But our approach will be disciplined, and we'll have more to say as time proceeds.

The next question is from Andrei Andon at Jefferies.

Good morning, Sal, Heather and Mac. Two for me, please. Firstly, following up to Bonnie's question on vapes. We've already seen a legal competitor launched flavored vapes in August, September this year. Where do you see such products legal flavored vapes potentially gaining share? Are they more likely to be a pressure point on cigarettes or rather on illicit vapes?

And then secondly, it's encouraging to see on grow year-on-year in Q3, but I believe the volumes have still declined relative to the previous quarter to Q2 '26. What are your expectations for volume growth for on! into next quarter and into next year? And what would underpin this?

Yes. So let me start with your vapor question, and it's a good one. Look, e-vapor is a far lower risk proposition for smokers and exposes those smokers to lower levels of smoking. So we believe e-vapor continues to play an important role in long-term harm reduction. We also recognize that flavors is something that attracts smokers to a less harmful product. So we do think it plays a role. But as we said, the category itself is upside down the risk of consumers using illicit vapors, which have not been through the regulatory process, threatens the long-term tobacco harm induction opportunity.

And so we continue to engage with our stakeholders, as I said earlier, to drive the [indiscernible] enforcement, and we have seen definitely a stepped-up level of enforcement. So over the long term, we believe vapor does play an important role, and we will participate in that. your question on growth of the nicotine pouch look, the volume decline you're seeing is primarily driven actually by the MST category as consumers move from MST into the nicotine pouch category. We're really excited about on us. We believe that the nickel technology for the pouch is a differentiator.

We also recognize that higher levels of nicotine and flavors drive a lot of the consumer growth. So we're excited that we've got 12 milligrams just went into the market recently. We haven't really seen the impact of that on retail share yet. And then we are entering the retail space with flavors, mango pineapple and Blueberry Mint. We announced Watermelon Mint coming in November in select stores. And we plan on having future innovation through flavor deliveries in the future. So we're excited about the pipeline. We're excited about the tobacco home reduction opportunity that nicotine pouch provides the adult nicotine consumers. So we look forward to on! PLUS and on! Class A continuing to play a role in that.

[Operator Instructions]. The next question is from Pallav Mittal at Barclays.

So just to follow up on volumes. See volumes are up 13% Y-o-Y in the third quarter. But when I look at scanner data, it is down mid-teens or something like that. So is there a significant inventory as you roll out 12MG or is it something else?

I wouldn't say significant, but I would say there's obviously some pipeline inventory as we launched a 12-milligram across Mint, Wintergreen and tobacco. And then you've got the flavor introductions that we talked about earlier. There's some differences on how you read scan and data where they look at pouches versus cans. So there's a little bit of noise in that. But nothing significant, but within a quarter, you're going to have some pipeline movement, not just for us, you have other brands introducing new SKUs as well. So I think you got to look at that over a longer period of time.

Sure. And if I can then ask on your cigarette business, okay. And if I exclude the WT [indiscernible] for a moment, then the EBIT on your core cigarette business is flat despite secret volumes being much better than what anyone sort have thought at start of the year. So how should we think about that? And how do you plan to grow your cigarette profit, especially as cigarette volumes start lapping tougher comps over the next few months?

Yes. I think it's frankly, a little unfair to pick out one aspect of the margin and pull it out and say, well, EBIT is flat or you got to look across the entire marked composition of the margin, which is driven by pricing, cost management, duty drawback is part of it. We feel really good about our ability to grow income within the cigarette category. We've got strong OCI performance through the first 9 months. You've seen Marlboro perform really well in the highly profitable premium segment PM USA's overall share has grown through the total portfolio approach. And so we feel really good about the smokable segment in general.

And as Heather stated earlier, that confidence in that performance through the first 9 months allowed us to raise guidance, and we were happy to provide that as well. So we feel really good about the business overall. But thanks for the question.

Sure. And if I can just squeeze one more in on duty drawback. You are exiting the year at around 500 million annual benefit from duty drawback based on the current run rate? And then as I think about next year, you will probably ramp up the current program and then the PM contract agreement will also kick in. So can you give us a broad range? I mean, from 500 million, can it go to 1 billion? Or are we looking at something around 700 million, 800 million for next year?

No, we're not providing that range I understand the question. I'll remind you, as Heather said earlier, you were not seeing the impact of the contract manufacturing agreement with PMI yet that will happen next year. So we talked about that this volume does build over time. I think Heather laid it out really well in earlier questions in her remarks. So -- but we won't provide any further guidance on that.

And the final question is from Eric Serotta at Morgan Stanley.

A couple of things. First, Sal, I think your perspective a little bit in terms of nicotine pouch category growth over the shorter term and then over the mid to long term, you've seen an incredible amount of innovation from both Altria Helix and adding to your competitors over the past 4 or 5 months as the regulatory environment has changed. At the same time, the category growth rate hasn't really materially accelerated coming up, you're going to have the leader in the category, effectively lowering the price per pouch. How do you see this all playing out in terms of category volume and revenue growth over the short term? And then any change to your thinking about how big this category can be over the mid to long term?

Yes. Look, it's a really good question. The nicotine pouch category has seen tremendous growth, much of it driven by MST consumers that move into nicotine pouch. There are a number of reasons for that, including social friction. If you think about. There's no spinning, as an example, with nicotine pouch. You've also seen some growth from cigarette consumers that are seeking a reduced harm way of enjoying nicotine, if you will. The rate of acceleration, look, as the numbers get bigger, like any category, you would see that the percentage change might not be as high as when you're first seeing the adoption, obviously. So that's something we may consider.

But we see the category as a tremendous tobacco harm reduction opportunity. It's still predominantly male. I think if you look overseas, you have seen women and other demographics adopt the product. So we think that continues to be an opportunity. And you're right to point out it is a highly competitive category. It's a growing category. So you're going to see competition, and we're used to that. I mean the cigarette category has been highly competitive. The smokeless category was highly competitive. But we believe over the long term, [indiscernible] margins are very achievable in this category. We see on! and on! is a premium proposition. We continue to invest in the pipeline of innovation. We continue to invest in the brand. We were really excited to see the ovation take place. So we feel really good about the category and the potential it has for long-term home reduction in the U.S. market.

Great. And then a quick follow-up. Just turning to your slide on the industry volume decomposition for cigarettes. The price elasticity impact ticked down about 20 basis points over the past quarter. What do you think is driving that? And then additionally, the macro cross category and other continues to tick lower. I know you called out across category at less than 50 basis points versus about 50 basis points. So maybe there's just some rounding here, but just wondering what's driving the reductions on both of those lines?

Yes. The cigarette price elasticity coefficient hasn't changed. It's still negative 0.35. So the impact you're seeing is just a year-over-year price change across the category, if you will and it's just multiplication it. As far as the macro and cross-category movement, it's really the cost category movement and the moderation of that is lowering that number over time. macroeconomics still continue to be headwinds, if you will, for the consumer, it continues to put pressure on consumer spending.

Obviously, we're paying very close attention to that. But as Heather pointed out earlier, our ability to use data analytics and RGM tools, I think, positioned us really well to navigate through that. So PM USA and the employees there as well as Helix and UST continue to use these tools very effectively, and we feel good about our ability to continue to manage through that.

There appears to be no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mac Livingston for any closing remarks.

Thanks to everyone for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to the IR team. Thanks.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

Good day, and welcome to Altria Group 2026 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is scheduled to last about 1 hour, including remarks by Altria's management and a question-and-answer session. Representatives of the investment community and media on the call will be able to ask questions following the conclusion of the prepared remarks. I would now like to turn the call over to Mac Livingston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Olivia. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This morning, Sal Mancuso, Altria's CEO; and Heather Newman, our CFO, will discuss Altria's 2026 second quarter business results. Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation and quarterly metrics are all available at altria.com. During our call today, -- same period in 2025. Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.

We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com. Finally, all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older. With that, I'll turn the call over to Sal.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. In the second quarter, our operating companies continue to deliver against the priorities we outlined at the start of the year, advancing our smoke-free portfolio, strengthening our traditional tobacco businesses, in delivering significant returns to shareholders. In smoke-free, Helix expanded on PLUS to 120,000 stores nationwide. engaged in trial-generating activities and prepared for additional line extensions to come later this year.

In smokable products, PM USA advanced, it's data-driven total portfolio approach to drive profitability. As Marlboro Cowboy cut generated strong interest among premium smokers, and basic continued to gain traction in discount. We delivered strong first half results, driving adjusted diluted EPS growth of 4.9% and returned nearly $3.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases combined. This performance reflects steady disciplined execution, and confidence in our full year plan, which allowed us to narrow our earnings guidance for the year.

This morning, I'll cover second quarter and first half results from on recent FDA actions in e-vapor category dynamics and how our operating company celebrated America's 250th anniversary. I'll then turn it over to Heather who will provide further detail on our business results and financial outlook. Let's begin with the nicotine pouch category and our growing on portfolio. Nicotine pouches continue to drive volume growth in the oral tobacco category, which we estimate increased 6% over the past 6 months. In the second quarter, the nicotine pouch category grew 8.1 share points and now represents nearly 60% of the total oral category.

As the category continues to expand, Helix is building on its momentum and strengthening on position. In the second quarter, on reported shipment volume was 49.9 million cans, down 4.2% versus the prior year due to trade inventory movements. Year-to-date, on reported shipment volume increased by 5.1%, reflecting the early impact of on PLUS following its national expansion. In the second quarter, on retail share reached 8.6%, up 0.8 share points sequentially and 0.3 share points year-over-year, driven by the introduction of on PLUS. Early data suggests on PLUS is resonating with both loyal on and competitive nicotine pouch consumers, driving incremental volume and share contributions for the brand.

We've also seen encouraging repeat purchase rates that suggest consumers value the differentiated experience of our nickel silk soft pouch. These results reflect the strategic investments we've made to support the brand. Earlier this year, Helix launched a new retail trade program that secured premium visibility and incremental fixture space for on PLUS and its growing product portfolio. Helix complemented its trade program with responsible marketing investments across retail, live events, paid social media and more. As a result, Helix delivered gains in both total and unaided brand awareness for on in the first half of the year, maintaining its position as the second most recognized brand in the nicotine pouch category.

These early indicators reflect a strong start for on PLUS with nicotine pouch consumers. competitive -- in the nicotine pouch space is intensifying with competitors bringing new products and flavors to market, and Helix is prepared with a differentiated product experience in a growing product portfolio. Helix's momentum is supported by an improving regulatory backdrop. The FDA recently updated its enforcement priorities for certain e-vapor and nicotine pouch products. We view this as a positive step toward greater regulatory clarity and transparency. While the guidance does not replace the need for formal authorization, it recognizes that products in advanced stages of FDA review should be treated differently from products that evade regulatory oversight entirely.

For Helix, we believe this guidance provides regulatory clarity for future product launches and reinforces Helix's strong position as the on PLUS authorizations received last year create the potential for a faster supplemental PMTA pathway for future line extensions. In the second quarter, Helix resumed shipments of on PLUS 12-milligram in 3 flavors in Florida, North Carolina and Texas with a national expansion planned for the third quarter. Helix also plans to introduce flavor extensions across 6, 9 and 12-milligram strengths, beginning with blueberry Mint and mango pineapple in the fourth quarter.

We believe these products will enhance the on PLUS portfolio and help meet increasing consumer demand for higher strength options and more flavor variety. Hewlett is committed to strengthening its position in the attractive nicotine pouch space and driving long-term profitable growth in the category. In e-vapor, we continue to believe that the category holds the potential to advance tobacco harm reduction in the U.S. and that recent FDA actions help expand access to regulated options for adult consumers. We also continue to see encouraging signs that federal and state agencies are committed to stronger enforcement.

During the quarter, this included continued federal seizures of illicit products totaling more than $250 million. a lawsuit by the Minnesota Attorney General against a leading elite e-vapor manufacturer and actions by major commerce and payment platforms to restrict illicit e-vapor sales. For harm reduction to succeed, 2 things are necessary, a more efficient authorization process and consistent enforcement over time. Both are critical to establish a level playing field among legal manufacturers with high-quality smoke-free products for adult nicotine consumers.

We believe increased enforcement activity, including supply-related disruptions at the border is helping slow demand for illicit products. While illicit flavor disposable products remain prevalent, saw signs of moderating growth continued in the second quarter, and we're beginning to see this reflected in the consumer data. At the end of June, we estimate there were approximately 20 million adult vapors essentially unchanged from a year ago. Over the same period, the estimated number of disposable e-vapor consumers declined modestly. Together, these trends suggest the categories of illicit driven growth trajectory is beginning to moderate from the growth seen in previous years.

Before I turn it over to Heather, I'd like to briefly highlight how we're supporting the people, communities and brands that have been central to our success for generations. Our companies have strong American roots and long-standing relationships with farmers that span more than 200 years. Our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, we're honoring that heritage by investing in American tobacco growers in their local communities, engaging our employees nationwide through service and civic participation and marking the milestone across our portfolio, including Copenhagen's year-long celebration of the farmers, veterans and trades people who help shape our country. and PM USA's introduction of Marlboro Cowboy Cut, a classic Marlboro experience anchored in the brand's iconic American story.

Collectively, these efforts honor the American routes that have shaped our businesses while reinforcing the foundation for our next chapter of growth. In summary, we've had a strong first half of 2026. Our expanding smoke-free portfolio, the strength of our traditional businesses, a regulatory environment that is increasingly focused on addressing illicit products and the passion of our talented employees support our confidence in the opportunities ahead. With that, I'm delighted to turn the call over to Heather Newman, our new CFO, to provide details on our business and financial results.

Thanks, Sal. Good morning, everyone. Altria delivered strong second quarter and first half financial performance. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 2.8% to $1.48 in the second quarter and by 4.9% to $2.80 for the first half. Robust smokable products adjusted OCI growth continued to be a key contributor to earnings. In the segment, adjusted OCI grew by 2.4% to $3 billion in the second quarter and by 4.2% to $5.7 billion in the first half. Adjusted OCI margins expanded to 64.8% in the second quarter and 64.9% in the first half.

The decline in our smokeable volumes continued to moderate during the quarter. Reported domestic cigarette volumes declined 3.2% in the second quarter and 2.8% in the first half. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, domestic cigarette volumes in the second quarter and the first half declined by an estimated 4.5% and 4%, respectively. At the industry level, when adjusted for the same factor, we estimate that domestic cigarette volumes declined by 5% in both the second quarter and in the first half, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of moderated cigarette industry declines. This trend continues to primarily be driven by reduced cross-category movement between cigarettes and illicit flavored disposable e-vapor products.

Economic pressure on adult smokers continue to impact cigarette industry dynamics. In the discount segment, persistent discretionary income pressures, especially among low-income consumers, remain the primary driver of growth -- included elevated gas prices and the compounding effects of inflation exceeding overall wage growth. As a result, for both the second -- quarter first half, discount retail share grew by 2.6 share points. This trade down dynamic impacted Marlboro's overall retail share which declined 1.5 share points versus the year ago period and two-tenths sequentially. However, Marlboro maintained its long-standing leadership profitable premium segment.

In the second quarter, Marlboro's share premium was 59.6%, unchanged versus the prior year and up one-tenth sequentially. The basic continues to support PM USA's portfolio strategy by providing a competitive offering in stores where discount brands are most relevant. During the quarter, retail share expanded by 3/10 sequentially and 2.3 share points year-over-year. Throughout the first half, PM USA applied the same RGM driven precision that guided basics repositioning from the start, expanding targeted promotional support to roughly 35,000 stores while refining investment levels based on marketplace learnings.

This disciplined data-driven approach to basics retail footprint and brand investments helped capture share that we believe otherwise would have been lost to competitive discount brands while limiting incremental impact to Marlboro. PM USA's total portfolio strategy continues to support both share performance and long-term profit growth. Total PM USA retail share expanded 1/10 of a share point sequentially and three-tenths versus a year ago. This balance between premium and discount reinforces long-term profitability while supporting overall share stability within PM USA.

Reflecting this balance, smokable price realization for the quarter was 4.5%, driven by strong net pricing for Marlboro partially offset by mix impact of basic volume growth as, reported shipment volume increased 5% in the second quarter as Middleton continued to significantly outperform in the large mass cigar industry. All other manufacturers continue to experience volume declines with the industry down 6.4% in the same period.

Turning now to the oral tobacco products segment. Second quarter results reflect the continued evolution of the category towards nicotine pouches. Segment performance was impacted by a difficult prior year comparison when 2025 volumes benefited from promotional timing and competitor supply disruptions. Additionally, financial results were impacted by strategic investment in on PLUS introductory trial offers as we expand it beyond the initial long states. As a result, adjusted OCI decreased by 8% in the second quarter and 4.2% in the first half. Adjusted OCI margins remained strong at 66.7% for the second quarter and 67% for the first half.

Total segment reported shipment volume decreased 8.5% for the second quarter and 6% for the first half as growth in ON was more than offset by lower MST volumes. When adjusted for treat inventory movements, we estimate that second quarter and first half oral tobacco products segment volumes declined by approximately 2% and 5.5%, respectively. Oral Tobacco Products segment retail share was 29% for the second quarter and for the first half. Retail share was stable sequentially, reflecting the growth of ON and resiliency of our MST brands. In the highly profitable moist smokeless tobacco segment, Copenhagen continued to maintain its long-standing premium leadership. Turning to ABI's financial results. We recorded $158 million in adjusted equity earnings in the second quarter, up 21.5% versus the prior year.

We continue to view our ABI stake as a financial investment, and our goal remains to maximize the long-term value of the investment for our shareholders. We remain committed to returning significant value to shareholders. During the first half of the year, we paid approximately $3.6 billion in dividends and repurchased 5.3 million shares for $335 million. At the end of the second quarter, we had $665 million reining in our current share repurchase program, which expires at the end of the year. In addition, our balance sheet remains strong. Our debt-to-EBITDA ratio as of June 30 was 1.9x, in line with our target of approximately 2x.

Finally, let's turn to our financial outlook. As we've discussed this morning, our business performed extremely well during the first half of the year. As a result, we are raising the lower end of our full year 2026 guidance. We now expect to deliver adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.61 to $5.72 representing a growth rate of 3.5% to 5.5% from a base of $5.42 in 2025. We are mindful of the challenged state of the nicotine consumers and we will continue to closely monitor their purchasing behaviors. And while refunds of taxes and duties paid on imported cigarettes for the quarter were flat sequentially due to timing factors, we continue to expect export volume and related tax refunds to be higher in the second half of the year with a more balanced benefit across the third and fourth quarters.

With that, we'll wrap up and Sal and I will be happy to take your questions. While the calls are being compiled, I'll remind you that today's earnings release and our non-GAAP reconciliations are available on altria.com. We've also posted our usual quarterly metrics, which include pricing, inventory and other items. Operator, let's open the question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions] We will take questions from the investor community first. The first question is from Matt Smith at Stolt.

You raised the low end of the guidance range. But even with that, the low end is below the first half delivery and I think initially, you anticipated a stronger phasing of growth in the second half. So how should we think about the second half now given some commentary around building benefits from the duty drawback, are you stepping up investments. You talked about some launches behind on PLUS and you have Cowboy cut going into the market. So are you stepping up incremental investment through the other considerations in the second half we should think about.

Yes. Thanks for the question, Matt. It's good to hear from you. Look, we were really pleased that we could narrow guidance for our investors coming out of the second quarter. really pleased with the first half results, to your point. And yes, the timing played out somewhat differently than our -- what we thought at the very beginning of the year. As you go into the second half of the year. I think it's important to keep an eye on the financial health of the consumer. The consumer remains under pressure, gas prices and inflation remain elevated, driven primarily by the uncertainty and the geopolitical climate that they are living in today. So -- and then I think you are right to point out. We talked about national expansion of the 12-milligram on PLUS, we've talked about flavor -- introduction of flavor extensions across the portfolio. And yes, that will require a level of investment.

So again, we feel really good about being able to narrow guidance, and we look forward to the second half of the year.

As a follow-up, 1 of the investment areas is the continued expansion of Cowboy cut. I know in early days, but can you talk about your initial observations in terms of the product's market share trajectory and where the volume for Cowboy cut is being sourced from and how you think that evolves over time?

Yes. We're excited about Cowboy Cut. We're really pleased with the early introduction of Cowboy Cut. Again, it serves 2 purposes. One, it does allow Marlboro to further celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country. and it really leverages Marlboro's American heritage. And at the same time, it engages with more value-sensitive Marlboro smokers and premium smokers who are seeking value at a time when the economic environment is difficult for those consumers. You should think of Cowboy Cut as 1 of the many tools in the suite of RGM tools that PM USA uses to engage with consumers.

So again, really pleased with the early days of Cowboy cut and really be pleased that we're able to use the breadth of Marlboro's portfolio to engage with value-sensitive consumers and to use data analytics so that we can be more prescriptive in terms of how we apply those promotional rates across the country.

The next question is from Bonnie Herzog at Goldman Sachs.

I had a question on the double duty drawback. I guess I'm hoping for a little bit more color on why you didn't recognize more of a benefit in Q2, you did export more volume sequentially. So I guess I assume something happened with the import volume quantity I'm asking because I just want to make sure there's, I don't know, no issue, and you have good visibility on this really ramping in 2H versus 1H and then despite the double duty drawback benefit not increasing sequentially in the quarter, your smokeable OCI growth was still up and up sequentially on a stack basis, which is clearly positive.

So could you touch on some of the drivers of that? And maybe how sustainable you believe that is?

Bonnie, thanks for the question. For double duty drawback, you're absolutely right to point out, export volumes increased Q1 to Q2. Really, what you're seeing is the timing factor. And so there are 2 components to that, why that's not truing up to the FET credit. One is the time in terms of when we apply for that credit. The other is just staging of product, some inventory movement, and that's why that's not perfectly lining up. We do expect in the second half of the year for export volume to increase and we'll have a more balanced benefit across Q3 and Q4 for the FTT credit.

From a smokable OCI standpoint, really have 2 components: strong Marlboro price realization that happened in the quarter as well as the first half. And then basic from an overall strategy standpoint, it was incremental to total PM USA, and we saw a benefit in terms of volume and share performance so we feel really good about that total portfolio approach for PM USA that really aligns with our strategy to maximize profitability over the long term.

Okay. Maybe part of my second question, we'll touch on this, but then I do have another question, just on the consumer and your SIG volumes, as you guys have highlighted, SIG volume declines are moderating. So just maybe hoping for a little bit more color on what you think might be driving this and whether you expect this to continue? And then I'm also asking in the context of sort of something you just touched on, Heather, is basic because I think about the second half, you're going to have pretty tough comps for basics. So just trying to understand if we should realistically assume your SIG volumes will be worse in 2H versus 1H and then maybe high level, just give us a sense of any changed consumer behavior and elasticities given maybe still elevated prices at the pump and tough macro?

Yes, Bonnie, there's a lot in that question. So let me hopefully, I answer all of them. If I don't, please follow up and if Heather has anything to add, of course. So as far as the -- let me start with the cigarette volumes and what you're seeing across the industry, and we break out what we're seeing in terms of industry volume declines. So the drivers, you have the secular decline in the price elasticity and then the third bucket is this cross-category movement macroeconomic conditions. You are expecting right that the macroeconomic conditions are unsettled. You have, again, as we talked about earlier, high levels and persistent inflation, higher elevated gas prices, but that is somewhat being offset by the moderation in -- essentially more than offset by the moderation in category movement.

And that's really driven by the fact we believe there are 2 factors that are driving that. One is the elevated level of enforcement that we're seeing in the marketplace and some of the supply chain disruption that is occurring related to the illicit disposable e-vapor products. And then these products have been available for a number of years, and the consumers, many of them had moved already into these categories. So we think both are probably playing a role in the moderation of the decline rate that you're seeing. And we'll have to see -- we don't talk about future volume trends necessarily, but we'll have to see how innovation impacts cross-category movement going forward.

In the first half, you were lapping a higher level of cigarette decline rates that you rightly pointed out. So that's a lot of the driver that you're seeing in the industry volume decline rate for this quarter. We're also very pleased with the fact that when you look at Marlboro's performance and the fact that it has really held steady in the highly profitable premium segment, that's a credit, not only to the strength of Marrow and the loyalty rates it has within the brand, but the ability for PMs will effectively use the RGM suite it has at its disposal.

And then, yes, Basic has shown strong growth on a year-over-year basis, and we will start to lap that. But we, again, our strategy and discount is to participate in discount and not necessarily accelerate the growth in the discount category you're seeing. And that growth in the category is really driven by consumers' decisions to pay down during a difficult economic situation.

The next question is from Palmital at Barclays.

Firstly, on cigarette volume, and it's a 3-part question. So U.S. industry volumes following up on the previous question, clearly better so far this year. Just wanted to check, are you seeing any impact from higher gas prices because even Q2 volumes were strong? Or is there a change in that correlation? And in terms of your shipments, your shipments are almost 120, 130 basis points better than the inventory adjusted number. So should we expect that to unwind in the second half?

Yes, we are seeing change to the price elasticity seen for a period of time that coefficient of negative 0.35% continues to hold steady. You do see, obviously, as I pointed out on Bonnie's question, the growth of the discount category in the cigarette space, and that's consumers making trade down decisions. But premium remains the category or the segment where most of the profitability is in the cigarette category, it's about 85% of the profitability in the cigarette category. So PM USA remains focused on that. You are also correct to point out that PM USA volume outperformed -- at least the volume trend outperformed the industry. And that's really the total approach that PM USA is employed. So you saw overall PM USA share grow on a year-over-year basis. So that's impacting the volume comparison versus the industry.

If I can then ask on your smokeless business, the ON business. Can you just talk about the consumer feedback on the on PLUS product, the recent MG launch and any retention rates, I think you have gone national in March. The reason I asked this question because despite the national expansion, volumes haven't accelerated significantly. So just wanted to check if there was any inventory moment which is impacting the Q2 numbers? Or is there something more than that?

Yes. Let me start and then Heather if you'd like to add anything. We're really pleased with the on PLUS launch. It's about 120,000 stores. So it covers about 90% of the nicotine product volume. AGDC don't has -- AGDC has done a terrific job with the on PLUS, we mentioned earlier that we launched a new retail program that provides on and on PLUS with premium visibility and about 90% of its volume. Share was up eight-tenths sequentially. That is driven by the on PLUS launch. The consumer likes the differentiated experience of the soft pouch technology but we also recognize it's important to have higher strengths. So we're excited about the 12-milligram national launch in the third quarter. And then the flavor expansions, we understand that flavors are important to this category.

And while the larger flavor portfolio is in Mint and Wind green, other flavors are important. So we're excited about our ability to launch that later in the year in the fourth quarter. You are right when you talk about shipments, there were some comp issues related to the second quarter. So if you look at 2025, volume was up due to some promotional activity as a major competitor was having some supply chain disruption. It was important for Helix to promote the on product.

And then you have some timing between first quarter and second quarter as on PLUS national launch were being prepared. So really happy with the initial launch, excited about the feedback we're getting from consumers but really excited about the pipeline of products to come related to on PLUS.

The next question is from Eric Serotta at Morgan Stanley.

Hoping you could give some color into how you're thinking about portfolio mix between discount and premium in the second half. And as we move forward, you already talked a bit about -- fielded some questions in terms of lapping some of the distribution expansion for Basic. At the same time, you have Cowboy cut ramping, which at least from limited sample at retail seems to be kind of like a 40% discount to mainline, at least in the market I've seen. So not asking for future pricing guidance, but just -- how are you thinking about that mix benefit or sort of that mix impact going forward?

Sure. I'm happy to answer. So overall, what we try to do from a strategy standpoint is to maximize the profitability over the long term. And we do that pretty consistently across the portfolio for PM USA. And I think the first half performance is a fantastic example of that. You are right that we have different aspects of the portfolio that we will leverage. So let's take Marlboro for example, on Cowboy cut. .

That really helps intelacbrand. We know that consumers are still under pressure and to keep them within the overall family. From time to time, we will leverage our RGM capabilities. and provide value to those premium consumers who are under pressure. And that's exactly how we're going to utilize Marlboro Cowboy cut and then when you think about discount, our approach and sales plot on, we want to participate in discount without accelerating that growth. We've done this from time to time. So historically, this is in line with our strategy.

Previously, we have had L&M where we support discount consumers and now our current strategy is Basic. I will remind you, it's very targeted in terms of its support. We leverage RGM to clearly identify where there's consumers under pressure to have the least amount of impact to Marlboro. And so we're really proud of our capabilities there in terms of RGM, and we feel confident in our ability to manage that for the second half.

Great. And then just a follow-up on a different topic. I know it's early days, but in terms of on PLUS, any insights as to what you're seeing in terms of consumer sourcing? How much of it is kind of incremental to the category and the part that's not incremental, where do you see it sourcing the most volumes from -- either from a segment and strength or a brand standpoint?

Yes. If you look at the on PLUS share performance, it was up eight-tenths sequentially, up three-tenths year-over-year. So we believe it's incremental to the overall on portfolio as I said earlier, it resonates both with on consumers as well as competitive nicotine pouch consumers. And then it also was appealing to MST consumers as a large pouch. with stronger nicotine shrinks, if you will. So we feel really good about the product, but we recognize it's important to add more flavors to the portfolio.

So that's why it was important to have the retail trade program in place ahead of the launch. And again, our AGDC colleagues did a tremendous job of selling that in and working with our retail partners. And it's also important to have a pipeline of products behind the current 3 fibers that we have in the market. So yes, and I have to tell you, we're agnostic that it may source some from on classic, if they stay within the on family and on PLUS, we believe, is a differentiated product related to the Nikoil soft pouch technology. And we believe over the long term, it will be a premium product because of its differentiation.

The next question is from Farhan bag at UBS.

Fantastic. A couple of questions from me as well. The first one, going back to combustibles. If my math is right, I think there's a at least a couple of percentage points of deceleration in price/mix at a time when the Basic's share expansion year-on-year is sort of no different compared to in Q1. Could you just help me understand what maybe drove the incremental step down in price/mix, whether that's related to Marlboro pricing or the impact of Cowboy cut. Any help there would be useful.

And the second question is going back to the recent FDA policy you highlighted, it gives you an opportunity to innovate and launch future line extensions and nicotine pouches. I guess the other category, the policy targets is vapor. Could you maybe remind us what you already have submitted in the EMT pipeline? What's in scientific review? And how you think about launches in that category to try and further switch consumption away from the lizard.

Yes. So a couple of questions in that question, as you find it out. So let me start with price realization. What you've seen in terms of PM USA price realization this quarter, is actually the fact that you had strong Marlboro price realization, and that was somewhat offset by the mix related to Basic as Basic has grown volume and share. But we really look at overall profitability. So what you saw was strong smokeable profitability, both in terms of margin and overall OCI performance. in the first half of the year.

So again, that's the price realization. Some of it is just the math. So this we -- give you some point of reference, if you look at Marlboro retail price in the second quarter, it was up about 7% on a year-over-year basis. We do believe that the recent guidance from FDA is constructive. While it doesn't replace the importance of authorization, we do believe that it brings some clarity and transparency related to authorization, both in the nicotine pouch as well as the e-vapor category.

If you remember, Enjoy ACE was out of the market related to 4 patents and that were filed in the ITC. We have modified those products. They no longer infringe on those patents and the customs in border patrol agree with that perspective. So we have submitted a supplemental PMTA. Our plan is to reenter the market at some point with Enjoy ACE, while there's been a stepped-up level of enforcement, the illicit products remain prevalent in that category. So as we enter the market, we're going to be disciplined and thoughtful about how we enter the market and exercise financial discipline.

But we're also going to continue to innovate for the future and meet the evolving consumer preferences in the e-vapor category. At the -- as we lock those products, those designs up will determine the best path forward for submitting for FDA authorization. If it's a supplemental PMTA, then the clock begins when it's accepted by the FDA. If it is a PMTA clock, if you will, that 6-month tox when it is giant view. So definitely a level of clarity in terms of when products can enter the market and really a recognition by the FDA that products that ignore regulations or different than products that are legal in or going through the FDA process. And we think that is constructive.

The next question is from Damian Neale at Deutsche Bank.

First 1 is, we've talked a lot about on PLUS and the innovation that you're launching. But was just wondering, is there anything that you're doing with the regular on products sort of support or strengthen that part of the market is the first question? And then obviously, we've just been chatting about the FDA, but I was just wondering, and obviously, you talked to the presentation about the improved backdrop around vape but specifically, can you provide any sort of insights in how you're thinking about a potential return to that category?

Yes, sure. So let me start with on. We believe on classic and on PLUS both have a place in our portfolio, and they're both important. If you look at on classic, it's a smaller pouch, it's more of a dry feel. Currently, it has lower nicotine strengths in the marketplace. So we will continue to innovate when it comes to on Classic. And we believe that on PLUS plays an important role as well. It has currently higher nicotine strengths. It's a larger pouch and has more of a wet feel. And so they both resonate with consumers, and they both play an important role in our nicotine product portfolio.

I talked a lot about e-vapor with Faham. I would say that we see we can play an important role in long-term tobacco harm reduction here in the U.S. We intend to participate in that category. But we recognize it's important to have sustained enforcement against the illicit manufacturers who are ignoring and really avoiding the regulatory landscape. So it's important that enforcement occurs, but it's also important that the FDA continues to authorize products so that the adult nicotine consumer has choices to participate in that category and be able to use reduced risk products.

We have not announced the timing of when we plan in to reenter the category, but we do plan on reentering that category. And when we have more to report, of course, we will.

And the final question is from Priya Ohri-Gupta at Barclays.

This is Theresa on for Priya. So could you please walk us through your thoughts on the current market backdrop in terms of not only our 2026 maturity but also your 2027 Euro bond and how you're approaching the refinancing.

Sure. First and foremost, we remain committed to delivering strong shareholder returns Obviously, our primary vehicle to do that is by way of the dividend. Historically, after we have the dividend, we have about $1 billion excess in cash. And we look at capital efficient ways to deploy that capital, 1 in which you're pointing to is our debt management. And we also look at other capital-efficient ways like share buyback. We also have opportunities to accelerate against our long-term adjacency vision as well as our smoke-free vision with any M&A opportunities.

And we think that we're really well positioned to manage those debt maturities in '26 and '27. We had a very strong balance sheet to do so with high cash generation businesses. And remain focused on really delivering that strong shareholder value.

There appears to be no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mac Livingston, for any closing remarks.

Great. Thanks to everybody for joining us. If you have any follow-up calls, please feel free to reach out. Thanks, and have a great day. .

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect at any time.

Good day, and welcome to the Altria Group 2026 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Mac Livingston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, [ Alani ]. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This morning, Billy Gifford, Altria's CEO; and Sal Mancuso, our CFO, will discuss Altria's 2026 first quarter business results.

Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation and quarterly metrics are all available at altria.com. During our call today, unless otherwise stated, we're comparing results to the same period in 2025.

Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. We will report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com.

Finally, all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Billy.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

We delivered a strong start to the year, growing adjusted diluted EPS by 7.3% in the first quarter. Our highly cash-generative businesses supported significant returns to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, while we continue to invest in support of our vision. Our smokeable products segment generated strong income growth. Marlboro strengthened its position in the premium segment and PM USA continued to execute its total portfolio strategy with discipline.

In the oral tobacco products segment, on! performed well in a highly competitive marketplace and Helix expanded on! PLUS nationwide.

My remarks this morning will focus on first quarter performance from on! and an update on the state of the e-vapor category. I'll then turn it over to Sal, who will provide further detail on our business results and financial outlook.

Let's begin with on! and the nicotine pouch category. Over the past 6 months, oral nicotine pouches drove the estimated 9.5% increase in total oral tobacco industry volume. In the first quarter, the nicotine pouch category grew 9.1 share points and now represents more than 58% of total oral tobacco. Against this backdrop, Helix delivered solid results in a highly competitive environment. Reported shipment volume for the total on! portfolio grew nearly 18% and to over 46 million cans in the first quarter, reflecting continued demand for on! Classic and the pipeline shipments for the on! PLUS national expansion. At retail, on! and on! PLUS together represented 7.8% of the total oral tobacco category, down 0.8 share points year-over-year and up 0.2 share points sequentially.

We began shipping on! PLUS nationwide in March. And at the end of the first quarter, it was available in approximately 100,000 stores, representing 85% of nicotine pouch category volume. On1 PLUS is the first and only product authorized under the FDA's pilot program, I think that streamlining PMTA reviews for certain oral nicotine pouches. The brand is currently available in 3 flavors across 2 nicotine strengths and features our proprietary NICOSILK technology.

To support the on! PLUS expansion, Helix recently launched a new retail trade program to strengthen execution across the full on! portfolio. The program is focused on increasing visibility and securing incremental fixture space to support on! PLUS today and future innovations over time. Today, the Helix trade program has secured premium retail positioning in contracted stores, representing approximately 90% of Helix volume. Additionally, on! PLUS is prominently featured across key retail touch points with coordinated signage from curb to counter.

On! PLUS is supported by marketing that highlights the product experience, including visuals that showcase the pouch itself, communicate comfort and reinforce its positioning as the softest pouch on the planet. These materials are designed to give nicotine consumers a clear understanding of how the pouch looks, feels and fits. This messaging is complemented by initiatives such as in-person events, brand partnerships, paid social media and streaming audio that aim to increase awareness, drive trial and further strengthen on! brand equity. Importantly, these efforts are grounded in responsibility with safeguards to limit reach to underage audiences and with a strong focus on regulatory compliance. Through these actions, we believe we can position on! PLUS as a differentiated offering for adult nicotine consumers and responsibly grow the brand over the long term.

On the regulatory front, the FDA is reviewing applications for on! PLUS Mint, Wintergreen and Tobacco and 12-milligram strengths under its pilot program. And we have submitted applications for 6 additional varieties across 3 nicotine strengths. We believe the science and evidence supporting all of these applications is compelling and provides a basis for FDA authorization within the 180-day statutory time line.

Let's now turn the e-vapor category. While illicit flavored disposable products remain prevalent, after several years of rapid growth, we began to see signs of moderation in the back half of 2025. We believe increased enforcement activity and supply-related marketplace disruption have slowed demand for these products, and those dynamics continued into the first quarter. At the end of March, we estimate there were approximately 20.5 million adult vapors in line with the year ago period. Over the same time frame, the estimated number of disposable e-vapor consumers declined modestly. Taken together, we believe these developments suggest early indications that the category's prior growth trajectory driven largely by illicit flavored disposable products may be evolving.

From an enforcement perspective, we continue to see signs of a commitment from enforcement agencies and incremental progress. During the quarter, federal agencies worked alongside local law enforcement to combat illicit products, including a large-scale enforcement action in Northern Virginia supported by the Drug Enforcement Administration. In addition, in states where product directories are in place and properly enforced, we are seeing evidence that these frameworks are helping to reduce the presence of illicit products in tracked channels.

In our view, consumer demand for e-vapor products demonstrates the potential for the category's role in tobacco harm reduction in the U.S. However, progress continues to be constrained by the limited number of FDA-authorized products. We see a clear pathway to restoring order and advancing harm reduction, anchored in a more efficient and predictable authorization process that supports reasonable responsible innovation and establishes a compliant legal marketplace of e-vapor products. When combined with sustained enforcement, we believe this would allow compliant manufacturers to provide adult nicotine consumers with authorized high-quality products that are appropriate for the protection of public health.

Overall, we delivered a strong start to the year. Our results this quarter reflected disciplined execution across our businesses, continued smoke-free progress amid a dynamic regulatory and competitive environment and our commitment to returning substantial capital to shareholders.

Lastly, as you know, this will be my final earnings call as CEO. It has been a privilege to lead this company alongside so many talented colleagues and friends. And I'm proud of the progress we've made together. I've also thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the investment community along the way, and I thank you for your trust and support. As I step away, I do so with full confidence in our leadership team and the strategy in place going forward.

I'll now turn it over to Sal to provide additional details on our business and financial results.

Thanks, Billy. The smokeable products segment delivered strong financial performance in the first quarter, reflecting the continued resilience of our smokeable business. Segment adjusted OCI grew by 6.3% with adjusted OCI margins expanding to 65.1% and an increase of 0.7 percentage points. This performance was supported by solid net price realization of 6.3%. Additionally, we saw the decline in our smokeable volumes continue to moderate. In the first quarter, reported domestic cigarette volumes declined by 2.4%. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate domestic cigarette shipment volumes declined by 4%.

At the industry level, when adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate domestic cigarette industry volumes declined by 5%, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of sequential year-over-year moderation. This trend was driven primarily by reduced cross-category movement between cigarettes and illicit flavored disposable e-vapor products for consumers, the macroeconomic environment remains challenging. Elevated everyday expenses and higher gas prices later in the quarter continued to weigh on discretionary income among more price-sensitive at the old smokers. Although higher-than-normal tax refunds provided some short-term relief, these pressures were primarily -- were the primary driver of year-over-year discount segment retail share growth of 2.4 share points.

This trade down dynamic impacted Marlboro's overall retail share. which declined 1.4 share points versus the year ago period and 0.1 share point sequentially. However, in the highly profitable premium segment where smoker purchasing behavior reflects higher levels of brand loyalty, Marlboro will continue to demonstrate its competitive strength. In the first quarter, Marlboro expanded its share of the premium segment to 59.5%, up 0.1 share point versus the prior year and 0.2 share points sequentially. A expanding its long-standing leadership position. Basic continued to capture share in the discount segment, reflecting PM USA's data-driven total portfolio approach to meeting a broad set of consumer needs. Basics retail share grew 0.5 share points sequentially and 2.4 share points year-over-year. Total PM USA retail share grew 0.1 share point sequentially and 0.4 share points versus a year ago, demonstrating the strong execution of PM USA's total portfolio approach.

In cigars, reported shipment volume was down slightly by 0.2%. The Middleton continued to outperform the large industry behind the strength of Black & Mild.

Let's turn now to the oral tobacco products segment. which delivered over $400 million in total adjusted OCI in the first quarter. Adjusted OCI margins remained strong at 67.4% and down 1.8 percentage points from a year ago and were impacted by Helix marketing investments for in-person events and digital advertising as well as product mix between traditional MST and nicotine pouches. Total segment reported shipment volume decreased 3.1% as growth in on was more than offset by lower MST volumes. When adjusted for trade inventory movements, we estimate that first quarter Oral Tobacco Products segment volumes declined by approximately 8.5%.

Year-over-year trade inventory comparisons were impacted primarily by on plus pipeline volume in the first quarter and elevated competitor volume in 2025. Oral Tobacco Products segment retail share declined by 5.5 percentage points. Overall, we remain encouraged by the performance of our oral tobacco businesses. as Copenhagen continued to lead in MST and Helix expanded its portfolio in the growing nicotine pouch category.

Turning to our investment in ABI -- we recorded $160 million in adjusted equity earnings in the quarter, up 9.6% versus the prior year. We continue to view our ABI stake as a financial investment and our goal remains to maximize the long-term value of the investment for our shareholders. We remain committed to returning significant value to shareholders and maintaining a strong balance sheet. In the first quarter, we paid approximately $1.8 billion in dividends and repurchased 4.5 million shares for $280 million. At the end of the quarter, we had $72 million remaining under our current share repurchase program, which expires at the end of the year.

In addition, our balance sheet remains strong. We retired just over $1 billion of debt that matured in February and our total debt-to-EBITDA ratio as of March 31 and was 1.9x, in line with our target. Finally, on guidance. We reaffirm our expectation to deliver 2026 full year adjusted diluted EPS and in a range of $5.56 to $5.72, representing a growth rate of 2.5% to 5.5% and from a base of $5.42 in 2025. As a result of the strong first quarter performance, we now expect 2026 adjusted diluted EPS growth to be more balanced between the first half and the second half of the year. Our reaffirmed guidance range now contemplates the impact of moderated labor industry growth on combustible and e-vapor product volumes and increased macroeconomic uncertainty facing adult nicotine consumers.

Before we wrap up, I'd like to thank Billy for his leadership over his decades of service to Altria. I have enjoyed the privilege of working closely with Billy for many years, and he has positioned us well to succeed in the future. We are committed to building upon the strong foundation he's fostered and accelerating progress toward our vision.

With that, Bill and I will be happy to take your questions. While the calls are being compiled, I'll remind you that today's earnings release and our non-GAAP reconciliations are available on altria.com. We've also posted our usual quarterly metrics, which include pricing, inventory and other items.

Operator, let's open the question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Faham Baig with UBS.

Brilliant. I have 2, please. The first one, I guess, is on your performance. At the full year stage, you spoke about a second half weighted performance this year, but Q1 came in seemingly stronger than expected. What were the areas that surprised you positively relative to the guidance in February. And I guess given the stronger-than-expected quarter, why have you chosen not to raise or narrow the guidance for the full year? So that's the first question.

And the second question is on cigarette volumes. Clearly, over the last 6 months, there has been an improvement in volumes. But it seems to be entirely driven by the deep discount segment. So I guess what are the key drivers that are helping this particular segment? And why may not be sort of supporting the premium segment too?

Yes. So thank you for the questions. So look, we do a terrific job of forecasting the year I would say, though, is the first quarter played out, what you saw was stronger volume performance, and that's primarily driven in the smokeable category by a moderation of the cross-category movement that I talked about in my opening remarks. So as the year plays out, we see growth being more balanced between the first half and the in the second half of the year. So that was the primary driver that we're seeing. We thought it was prudent to reaffirm guidance. We're a quarter into the year.

Obviously, the macroeconomic environment remains challenging and uncertain. Gas prices have increased at the end of the quarter significantly. There's been some maybe short-term offsets to that as we've seen tax refunds higher than we have seen in the -- in past years, and that may be somewhat short term if you think about it. So we'll see how the rest of the year plays out. Obviously, if there's any updates as the year progresses to our guidance, we would communicate that. But we feel really good about our ability to reaffirm guidance for the year. As far as cigarette volumes go, again, I mentioned the cross-category moderation that we've seen played out, but the consumer does remain under pressure, and that's been a driver of the growth in the discount category.

We are really happy with PM USA's total portfolio strategy, which allows Basic to capture share of that discount category. So we feel really good about PM USA's performance for the quarter and very pleased with Marlboro's performance where it grew its share of premium sequentially and year-over-year.

Our next question comes from Matt Smith with Stifel.

And Billy, first off, I just want to wish you well in your retirement in the upcoming weeks here. Just wanted to dig into smokeable OCI a bit. The performance was quite strong in the quarter. And on a per pack basis, operating costs were below the level from the second half of last year. I think less volume deleverage was likely a benefit. But can you provide some more color on the other factors in smokable seems like double the duty drawback grew in size? And did you see that drop through profit more efficiently in the quarter? .

Yes. So as you stated, we had really strong first quarter performance from our smokeable segment. So just a great job by PM USA and John Middleton in that segment. As far as spending goes, as we've stated earlier, we do have some investments in our import export business. which are more weighted to the first half. So I wouldn't overread a particular quarter, but the per pack controllable costs, obviously, were -- they did receive a benefit from the higher volume as well as the export volume that we've broken out for you in our financial statements. So -- but I would say the overall OCI was driven primarily through pricing and the stronger cigarette volume performance that you saw play out through the year. And again, that's primarily driven by the moderation of the cross-category movement between vapor and the cigarette category.

And as a follow-up to the full year guidance question, there's a lot of reinvestment this year, whether it's behind on us or the carryover from basic repositioning and some other upcoming activities in smokeable. If you continue to see resiliency in the consumer, how do you balance the earnings growth potential against leaning more heavily into reinvestment this year given some of the flexibility you have.

Yes. I think you have to think about it in totality, Matt. When you think about investment, we don't feel like we're under-investing in any of our growing categories. And so we'll continue to invest appropriately with those I think from the strength of the consumer, it's the wild card with the economic outlook, the way it is with higher gas prices and stuff. And as Sal mentioned, there were certainly offsets. We'll see as those offsets play out throughout the year. and how gas prices continue to trend and we'll make any changes when it's appropriate.

Our next question comes from Bonnie Herzog of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

All right. And congratulations again, Billy and Sal, and Billy, I also wish you all the best in your retirement, and it's really been great working with you. I -- some of you guys can hear me. I have a question on the double Okay, good. I have a question on the double duty drawback. I guess I was hoping for some more color on the expected phasing of the benefits you now expect this year? I believe you did start to import in the quarter, and I do see the stepped-up benefit in Q1 versus Q4. And -- so just curious, should we expect a steady increase in the benefit each quarter as the year progresses? And then did this activity play a role in any way in your updated guidance phasing to be more evenly split between 1H and 2H. I guess I'm just trying to think if there was any type of pull forward in the quarter that we should be aware of?

Bonnie, thank you for the question. You will see increases in the export volume and the benefit of the duty drawback as the year progresses. So you are right in your assumption. I would tell you that the more balanced growth -- diluted EPS growth first half to second half is more driven by the fact that you've seen this moderation in cross-category movement and the benefit of the volume in the smokeable segment. And then, of course, we're paying close attention to the economic conditions that our consumers are facing -- they are under significant economic pressure, again, from the cumulative impact of inflation, rising costs of everyday items, including gas. So we'll pay close attention to that. But I would say that's the main driver of the balance between first half and second half.

Yes. Thanks for the kind words, Bonnie. The only thing I would add is I think it's important to Think about the 2 drivers that are driving that interaction between smokeable and e-vapor. If you think about the 2 drivers, 1 is certainly enforcement. So as the product is not available for the consumer, they go back to their total considerations make tisions. But it's also -- and you heard in my remarks, saturation of the marketplace with e-vapor products and a slowdown in that transition over. And so it's hard to predict exactly when that saturation point is going to hit, and we think we're starting to see signs that we hit that. That's why we've been after and really pushing the FDA to think of not only enforcement but authorization, and we think they can achieve much faster authorization by publishing product.

Okay. That's helpful. And then just 1 other question, if I may, on Marlboro. You're rolling out cabo cuts soon. So maybe hoping for a little color on the rollout and maybe expected state allegations. And then could you provide a little color on how you're going to manage Kiboycut relative to say Marlboro Black in terms of pricing? And ultimately, I guess, how we should think about the contribution to profitability, how you're going to manage versus Marble Black, et cetera.

Sure, Bonnie. Yes, Cow Boyd Cut, we will expand distribution later in the year, specifically later in the second quarter. You should think of a cowboy cut a couple of ways. One is it's a tool within our RGM toolbox. It provides price-sensitive Marlboro consumers with an option, and we believe that's important. So you should expect it to be competitively priced. But of course, with RGM, you may see different price points depending on what where you're going. And also Cowboy Cut allows us to build on Marlboro's heritage during a time when the country celebrating its 250th anniversary. So it's also a benefit to Marvell's overall equity strength that you see in the marketplace. So we're really excited about. It's a terrific product, and you will see broader distribution as the quarter plays out.

Next question comes from Andrei Andon with Jefferies.

Three for me, please. Number one, could you please tell us a bit more about the factors that drove the improvement for Marlboro within the premium combustible segment? And then 2 questions on oral nicotine purchase, please. I know it's early days for on! PLUS. There's been a shipment benefit -- shipment benefit for Q1 volumes. But is there any color you could give us around the consumer, the early consumer offtake for the new product for on! PLUS? And perhaps, finally, just a clarification, the 6 new flavors that you've submitted applications for with the FDA? Are they also part of the Fast Track nicotine pouch pilot program?

Yes. I'll try to unpack those 3 questions, if I miss any, please follow up. I think when you think about the Marlboro brand within the premium segment, I think there are really 2 factors there. Marlboro still the aspirational brand in the cigarette category. And so with the tools that we have in data analytics with revenue growth management, it allows us to, on a store-by-store basis, make it very competitive, but remain very profitable. And I think that's what's really driving the Marlboro growth in premium. I think when you think about oral nicotine pouches, early on, it is very, very early. You remember that we went national towards the end of March. And so we're excited about that. But we know that flavors are going to play an important role in the future of the nicotine pouch category, and that ties into your third question about flavors. And they are not part of the pilot program at this point.

But this is why we believe that it's very easy for the FDA to go through the authorization process. The science is the same in those pouches as what they've already authorized. It's from moving a grass, which stands for in the FDA lingo, generally recognized as safe. So you're removing 1 grass flavor and putting in a new grass flavor. And so they've already reviewed the science on everything else related to the product. Their only focus would really be the flavors. And that's why we believe that it can be achieved within the 180-day statutory requirement.

Our next question is from Eric Serotta with Morgan Stanley.

Great. Can you give us a little bit of color of how you're thinking about the potential macro impact from the low end -- from the low-end consumer. Since the conflict began, we're now, call it, 8 weeks or so into it, a lot of noise with weak consumer confidence overall, but higher tax refunds -- what are you seeing? And I guess, in past times of sharp spikes in gas prices, what has sort of been the typical lag based on your research for an impact on your takeaway?

And then second question, you certainly see understandably more favorable about the e-vapor elicit vapor enforcement. How is that impacting your thinking about your broader e-vapor strategy -- for the past year or so, you seem to be working behind the scenes on resolving the IP issues, but sort of not going to rush to get into -- get back on to a market that was clearly had its challenges. Is that evolving with the improved enforcement that you're an improved performance of the market that you're talking about?

Yes. I'll let Sal kick us off with the macroeconomic and then I'll take e-vapor.

Sure. Eric, I think you framed a macroeconomic situation quite well in your question, right? So later in the quarter, you did see a significant increase in gas prices. And obviously, that has an impact on discretionary spending that the consumer does have and been under pressure for quite a while, just as everyday items continue to be at elevated prices. But there are some shorter-term tailwinds, I guess, you would call it, related to some of the higher levels of tax refunds that we are seeing based on the data coming out of the IRS. So obviously, we have to pay close attention to that. You are seeing a growth in the discount category within the cigarette business or cigarette segment. and that is driven by the macroeconomic difficulties that the consumer is facing.

And you've seen us using the RGM, the revenue growth management, data analytics and tool set that we do have. And that's why you see basic in heavily discounted stores where we can capture consumer purchases that may have gone to other discount brands and we can capture those purchases in basic. And then we talked earlier about Cowoboy cut being a competitively priced product that will engage with Marlboro that are under economic pressure. So we believe we have the tools to manage through this situation. But obviously, we're going to pay close attention to the consumers' economic condition as the year progresses.

And I think related to e-vapor, while we were just as excited as you are, some of the green shoots you're seeing in enforcement, I think it's important to can still look at the context, the e-vapor category in total. So it's very large, but it's still, call it, approximately 70% of the volume is illicit flavor disposables. And so it's still upside down in the marketplace.

Now we're excited. We're making significant progress on the ITC issue that you described related to the patent infringements. We feel good about that. We're excited to be able to bring that product back to the marketplace at the appropriate time, but we'll still do it in a disciplined fashion while the marketplace is still upside down. And that's, again, going back to our earlier point, it's why we are really pushing the FDA. They think about both enforcement, but authorizations so that we can keep those consumers in the e-vapor category with products that are authorized.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Damian McNeela of Deutsche Bank.

Just 1 question for me. I think in your prepared remarks, you mentioned that on! PLUS was getting allocated additional shelf space in the 100,000 or so stores that it's got listings in. Can you just sort of give an indication of where that shelf space is coming from? Is it -- are you winning it back off of the nicotine pouch brands? Or is it coming from traditional oil tobacco products, please?

Yes, it's a good question. We feel very excited about what our sales force was able to achieve. You can think of that category primarily as its own category within the retail space. And so that is achieving that outlook within the nicotine pouch space.

Our next question comes from Callum Elliott of Bernstein. .

Hopefully, you can hear me and just adding my congratulations on the World as a retirement believe best of luck with the endeavors? So my first question is on your nicotine pouch strategy. One of your tobacco peers has been rolling out a nicotine pouch product under a legacy world tobacco brand -- so my question is, do you have any thoughts about maybe trying to do the same thing with Copenhagen or Skol? Or do you think that your initiatives with on are sufficient to get the sort of the consumer response that you're hoping for?

Then my second question is about ASIC and its interaction with Marlboro. I think the data you showed shows discount share gain of 240 basis points year-on-year in Q1 and basic is also going 340 basis points. So it seems like all of the discount sector share gain is coming from basic -- and as we all know, we sort of annualize the repositioning quite soon. So should we be expecting that discount share gains slow as a whole as basic starts to slow and maybe Marlboro can start doing a bit better. Would you expect other discount brands to start doing better once basically annualizes the launch?

Yes. I'll take the first question and then pass it on to Sal for the basic question. In the nicotine oral category, USSTC was the only smokeless company to have signed a master settlement agreement. So that prevents us from using those tobacco brands in a product that does not contain tobacco. So we feel very good about on! and on! PLUS and the way it's positioned from an equity standpoint. We feel like we can compete very well in the nicotine pouch space.

And Callum,we're very pleased with basics performance. Remember, basics, promotions were in limited retail distribution. And it's really being driven, that distribution is being driven by the data analytics that we have so that basic is being promoted in stores that over-index discount. And that allows PMUSA to capture consumer purchases that would have otherwise gone to other discount brands and not having an overnet impact on Marlboro. So that's why we believe you're seeing Marlboro continue to grow share in the premium category and performed quite well there. Basic is able to capture the discount share that it's been able to capture. So we feel really good with the strategy. It's really driven by data analytics and it allows us to use the revenue growth management tools across the PM USA's portfolio.

Maybe I can just ask a follow-up, if that's okay, Sal the sort of stronger-than-expected performance in Q1. Does that give you the possibly to sort of further extend distribution for basic beyond the sort of the plateau that we seem to have originally found given that you seem to have this sort of increased flexibility now within the 2026 guidance? Or is that not something that we should be expecting?

Well, I don't think the strong performance is what drives that. It really is the data. And if there's opportunistic retail locations to promote basic and limit the impact on Marlboro, then that decision, but it's not driven by the financial performance necessarily. It's being driven by the data analytics Sure.

Our next question comes from Dave with Richmond Times Dispatch.

I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about the enforcement for the disposable vapes. You probably know that here in Virginia, the legislature has passed the new permitting and enforcement legislation for vape shops. And I'm wondering if this is something that brings enforcement to a new front? Is it something that might be significant in terms of other states being interested in this kind of thing. Have you been monitoring that?

We have been. I think when you think about it, all the efforts that we try to get both at the state level and the federal level, or exactly what you're after is making sure that the consumer in the vape category has authorized products that the FDA, an independent party has looked at what's in them and what comes from them. And so that's what we're driving. I think when you look across the U.S., you see a number of tools available at the state level. You've mentioned the permitting in Virginia. Other states have directories. It all is driven by how well they enforce it. Where we see enforcement take place, we see that the consumer goes back to their total consideration set.

So we've seen some go to nicotine pounds. We've seen some come back in cigarettes. And then we've seen in some states where I'll call it a gray area where their vape products that have applications in front of the FDA and are awaiting a decision. So they're able to stay in the marketplace. So Again, that's why we've been really pushing the FDA to think about both enforcement but also making authorization more readily available.

Could the Virginia legislation be a model for other states?

We've seen that across states. Some states have used model legislation that drives more, if you will, enforcement and have only authorized products in the marketplace, but it's really driven by how well it's enforced.

There appears to be no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mac Livingston for any closing remarks.

Thanks, everybody, for joining today's call. Please reach out to Investor Relations if you have further questions. Have a great day.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

Well, we're excited to welcome back the management team of Altria, long-time supporters of CAGNY. For decades, they've been leaders in the tobacco industry with iconic brands led by Marlboro. Today, they're leaders in moving beyond smoking. This includes exciting new products like on! PLUS and advocating for improved enforcement against illicit markets in the U.S., all while supporting strong cash returns to shareholders through the traditional businesses. We also note this is CEO, Billy Gifford's final CAGNY before he retires and transitions leadership to Sal Mancuso, who we're fortunate to have with us as well. That will happen in May. Billy, congratulations. Welcome and take it away.

Thanks very much.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. We're excited to be back at CAGNY once again this year. I'm joined on the stage by Sal Mancuso, our Chief Financial Officer; and following our presentation, Heather Newman, our Chief Strategy and Growth Officer; and Bob McCarter, our General Counsel, who also leads Regulatory Affairs, will join us for the breakout session next door. Before we begin, we ask that you carefully review the safe harbor statement in today's presentation and the forward-looking and cautionary statements section in today's press release.

These documents are available on altria.com, along with the reconciliations and further explanations of the non-GAAP financial measures we will discuss today. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board. And all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older. At Altria, we are responsibly transitioning smokers to a smoke-free future, competing vigorously for existing smoke-free nicotine consumers and exploring new growth opportunities beyond the U.S. and beyond nicotine.

We've been leaders in the U.S. nicotine space for decades. Our iconic tobacco brands, including Marlboro, Black & Mild and Copenhagen have built durable competitive advantages and created significant value for our shareholders. In recent years, the U.S. nicotine space has been rapidly evolving. Accelerated smoke-free adoption and shifting consumer preferences have made the long-term growth and profit potential of smoke-free categories clear. These dynamics have created an unprecedented opportunity for our businesses. We believe we have the potential to both advance harm reduction and to extend Altria's historic track record of creating long-term value.

We continue to evolve our businesses and capabilities to capture these opportunities to lead the U.S. nicotine space into the future. Today, I'll start with an update on the U.S. nicotine space, nicotine consumers and the portfolio we are building to capture the growing smoke-free opportunity. Next, I'll highlight some of our enhanced capabilities and strategy enablers that we expect will provide greater flexibility and strengthen our execution. Sal will then discuss our smokeable products business, our ambition to expand beyond U.S. nicotine and our continuing commitment to create substantial value for our shareholders. Let's dive in. The U.S. nicotine space is evolving and innovative smoke-free products are driving that change. In 2025, growth in e-vapor and oral tobacco more than offset cigarette industry volume declines.

As a result, total equivalized nicotine volumes grew by approximately 2.5% last year and by 2% over the past 5 years on a compounded annual basis. Over the same period, nicotine consumers have shifted meaningfully towards smoke-free options. Of the 55 million U.S. nicotine consumers, we now estimate that more than half use smoke-free products and more than 1/3 use them exclusively. The growing adoption of smoke-free products is encouraging and reflects real progress in harm reduction. More than 10 million former smokers have fully transitioned away from cigarettes. Just under half of the remaining 30 million smokers are interested in smoke-free options, underscoring that we are still in the early stages of the harm reduction opportunity.

Our strategy is grounded in a deep understanding of today's nicotine consumers. Over decades, we've built a robust understanding of our consumers, including the role nicotine products play in their lives and why they choose brands and products across different usage occasions. We've identified three distinct consumer groups, each defined by what consumers seek from their nicotine experience and the factors that drive their behaviors or product choices. These groups inform our total portfolio strategy, enabling us to meet consumers where they are with our traditional brands and our innovative smoke-free products.

The first group, the Traditionalists consists of consumers who want to stick with what they know. They demonstrate strong brand and format loyalty, preferring familiar products that fit long-standing routines. Their behavior reinforces the strength and resilience of established brands like Marlboro and Copenhagen and the importance of maintaining high-quality experiences in traditional tobacco. And while many smokers in this group acknowledge reasons they could switch to smoke-free alternatives, a persistent core remains unmotivated to make a change. The second group, the transitioners, is open to switching between product platforms. These consumers are willing to transition from cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives and move between smoke-free categories when products effectively deliver nicotine satisfaction, have less social friction and have a value or harm reduction proposition.

They are a key driver of category movement and contribute significantly to the ongoing adoption of smoke-free products. This group reinforces the role that nicotine pouches, e-vapor and heated tobacco can each play for smokers or dippers seeking innovative smoke-free alternatives. The third group, the variety seekers, actively seek different product forms, flavors and experiences. They are early adopters of innovation and often set emerging trends within the nicotine space. Many use multiple product categories and have already transitioned from cigarettes, making them a highly dynamic group. Innovation is critical to meet the needs of this group. We believe that new products in the pouch category, such as on! PLUS and our e-vapor products under development will be positioned to meet their rapidly evolving preferences.

We believe that no single product format, flavor or nicotine strength can adequately meet the full spectrum of consumer preferences. And it's foundational to why we remain committed to providing high-quality traditional tobacco products for loyal consumers while advancing an innovative smoke-free portfolio across oral nicotine pouches, heated tobacco and e-vapor. Let's now turn to the smoke-free categories and our portfolio. The oral tobacco category grew by 12.5% last year. Nicotine pouches drove category growth and volumes grew by over 40%. Nicotine pouches now comprise over half of the total oral category. All category consumers increased to over 8 million and nicotine pouch consumers more than doubled over the past two years.

Our oral tobacco product strategy is to maximize profitability over time in MST through the strength of Copenhagen and responsibly grow the on! portfolio while investing in a pipeline of innovative oral nicotine products. This approach aligns with our consumer groups, serving loyal, routine traditionalists through Copenhagen while meeting the needs of transitioners and variety seekers with innovative smoke-free options with on! and On!PLUS. We believe we are successfully executing against this strategy. Our oral tobacco products segment grew adjusted OCI by a CAGR of 1.3% over the past 5 years. Over the same time, we built a competitive nicotine pouch brand with on! and grew annual volumes to nearly 178 million cans in 2025, representing a CAGR of nearly 58%. In 2025, USSTC continued to lead in MST with Copenhagen.

In the highly profitable premium segment, USSTC's share was 61% and has steadily grown over the past 5 years, illustrating the strength of our premium MST brands. And Helix delivered another year of volume share growth in a highly competitive category while improving profitability. With the recent FDA authorizations for certain on!PLUS products, Helix is poised for another strong year in 2026. We believe on!PLUS is a premium and differentiated product, featuring our proprietary NICOSILK technology and is designed to appeal to both adults who dip and competitive pouch consumers. on! PLUS is currently distributed in Florida, North Carolina and Texas. Together, these states represent approximately 16% of total nicotine pouch volume. Early consumer insights have been encouraging. Approximately 95% of consumers surveyed said that they are very likely or somewhat likely to repurchase on!PLUS. And it's no surprise.

After all, on!PLUS Onus is the softest pouch on the planet. Helix is quickly preparing to expand on!PLUS beyond its initial distribution. Its national launch is slated to begin next month with broad retail distribution expected by the end of the first half. In support of this expansion, Helix recently announced a new trade program to strengthen retail positioning for the entire on! portfolio, including enhanced merchandising, distribution and assortment. At retail, on!PLUS will stand out with premium signage and elevated positioning that highlights the product's differentiated high-quality proposition. Innovation in pouch formats is driving category growth. We believe the differentiated product attributes of on!PLUS position it to meet transitioner and variety seeker preferences. It's authorized mint and wintergreen varieties in 6- and 9-milligram strengths aligned with the preferences of roughly 60% of pouch consumers.

We believe this gives the brand a strong foundation. At the same time, we recognize growing consumer interest in additional flavors and higher strengths. Last year, flavor forward varieties gained share. Interest in strengths 9 milligrams and above also continues to rise and higher nicotine strengths appeal to certain dippers. Helix has already filed PMTAs for additional on! PLUS products to meet these consumer preferences. The FDA is reviewing applications for on! PLUS mint, wintergreen and tobacco in 12 milligrams, along with 6 additional flavor varieties across 3 nicotine strengths. While the new flavor applications are not included in the FDA's pilot program, we are optimistic that the FDA will apply similar efficiencies and methodology. on! and on! PLUS! will be supported by amplified marketing strategies and activations led by our consumer experience organization. As nicotine categories have developed over time, so have the ways consumers engage with brands. Our data show a significant opportunity for on! and on! PLUS to responsibly engage with adult consumers through previously unused marketing channels.

By embracing these modern channels for our smoke-free brands, we believe we can more than double the reach of our traditional marketing efforts. Importantly, these efforts are grounded in responsibility with safeguards to limit reach to unintended audiences and with a strong focus on regulatory compliance. These new channels include high-impact in-person events, strategic partnerships with well-known brands, paid social media and streaming audio, among others. We already see this approach building brand affinity. Last year, our teams participated in events that drew 3 million attendees and had over 260,000 one-on-one interactions with adult consumers, driving significant awareness for the brand. Helix will engage consumers with on! PLUS marketing content through a variety of paid media channels, including online video. Let's take a look.

[Presentation]

We're excited to bring a truly differentiated product to consumers this year with engaging marketing content that we expect to generate awareness, drive trial and build on existing brand equity. Let's now turn to heated tobacco.

While the category remains nascent in the U.S. today, some smokers are seeking inhalable alternatives that reduce the social friction associated with cigarettes, yet provide a satisfying real tobacco taste. These attributes align with the needs of some traditionalists and transitioners. These consumers are looking for inhalable smoke-free options but did not have an interest or find satisfaction in e-vapor.

We believe Ploom, paired with the familiar Marlboro brand, offers smokers an inhalable smoke-free option that feels recognizable, credible and satisfied. Last August, Horizon, our joint venture with JT Group, completed a key milestone on its path to bring Ploom to the U.S. Horizon filed a combined PMTA and MRTPA with the FDA for Ploom and Marlboro heated tobacco sticks. We believe the science and evidence supporting these applications are compelling. Evidence from a large consumer use study among adult smokers shows that 31% of those who use Ploom switched completely and an additional 42% reduced their cigarette consumption by half or more. Given the low risk of underage use and the strong benefits of switching for smokers, we believe Ploom represents a strong case for FDA authorization. Let's now turn to e-vapor, a category that strongly appeals to transitioners and variety seekers.

We estimate the e-vapor category grew approximately 15% in 2025, with illicit flavored disposable products representing approximately 70% of the category. At year-end, we estimate there were more than 20 million vapers, including nearly 15 million using disposable products. In 2025, we began to see signs of a slight moderation in e-vapor growth following years of rapid expansion. We believe 3 primary factors are driving this: increased enforcement, pricing and a slowdown in organic category growth. First, enforcement is improving. We have long advocated for stronger enforcement against illicit products. These products, mostly imported from China, are produced with no FDA oversight of ingredients, how they are made, marketed or sold. In 2025, we saw increased engagement and action from federal agencies and government officials. Our research with adult disposable vapers suggests that enforcement efforts are gaining traction with over half of those surveyed reporting out-of-stocks for their preferred brand.

Second, we are also seeing enforcement-related supply shortages, together with tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods impacting pricing dynamics. In tracked channels, we observed significant price increases for certain illicit brands. Our data showed that retail prices increased for one leading brand -- leading illicit disposable brand by more than 20% in the second half of 2025. In addition, there are early indications that growth in the total number of disposable vapers is moderating. In 2025, the number of disposable vapers slowed, rising approximately 8% versus the more than 40% in 2024. Further, disposable e-vapor volumes grew approximately 30% last year compared to over 50% in 2025. While this is early progress, more action is needed. Consumers deserve products that have been rigorously reviewed by the FDA.

At a minimum, they should know what's in their products. The prolonged growth of illicit e-vapor continues to jeopardize the harm reduction opportunity. The entire industry needs to operate within a fully enforced science-based regulatory environment. We're hopeful that 2026 will bring consistent enforcement and further improvements to the regulatory process. Long term, it's important to compete in e-vapor with flavored products that meet evolving consumer preferences. We are working on a pipeline of products to drive to that future. The proliferation of illicit disposable products, slow pace of FDA authorizations and the intellectual property landscape remain significant headwinds. We intend to maintain a measured approach to our investments in e-vapor until the regulatory framework is functioning as intended and enforcement actions meaningfully address the illicit market.

As we advance our smoke-free portfolio, we're also strengthening the capabilities and enablers that accelerate progress toward our vision. We are creating additional operational and financial flexibility through our Optimize and Accelerate initiative, expanding our import and export capabilities and enhancing our RGM infrastructure. And our industry-leading sales force continues to be a critical enabler of our success. We're modernizing the way we work through our Optimize and Accelerate initiative, which we first announced in late 2024. From the start, we said our goal was to generate at least $600 million in savings to reinvest in our vision while also increasing our organization's speed and effectiveness. We're just over a year into our initiative, and we are already seeing the benefits. In our marketing services organization, we've reduced the time required to create and execute content by as much as 50%. We're leveraging automation and generative AI, enabling us to move closer to the consumer at a faster pace than ever before.

We're also scaling an AI tool across AGDC, our sales and distribution company to strengthen execution and create capacity for our teams. Our sales managers capture images in every store they visit. AI converts these photos into structured insights such as opportunities to improve product assortment, pricing or signage on the back bar. What used to take days will happen almost instantly once we scale this new technology. Next, we are expanding our import and export capabilities and building operational expertise that supports our broader international aspirations. We believe this provides greater financial flexibility for PM USA and the Enterprise. PM USA began making foundational investments to support international product specifications last year, and our CapEx range for 2026 includes further investments. We expect import and export activity to ramp up throughout the year, and we have contracted export volumes with multiple partners that support a return on investment in less than one year.

We're also enhancing our RGM infrastructure to optimize growth, sharpen resource allocation and accelerate progress towards our vision. Traditionally, each operating company used RGM based on its own priorities and stage of maturity. This model has delivered tremendous results, and we expect it will continue to do so. Enterprise RGM expands beyond an operating company approach and applies an enterprise-wide view. It enables us to evaluate cross-category dynamics and allocate resources more efficiency. While early, our small-scale test show encouraging results. Using enterprise RGM, we can analyze large data sets to understand pricing, retail, consumer and cross-category trends at a granular level. For example, these insights may inform decisions like reducing promotional support for a brand like Marlboro Menthol and instead increasing support for on! to grow total Altria nicotine share and encourage consumer transition to our smoke-free brands.

And finally, AGDC remains focused on creating the best in-store experience for our consumers and delivering the highest quality service to the trade. When surveyed last year, retailers ranked AGDC personnel better than all other CPG manufacturers for both account management and store level personnel. Our sales organization and trade relationships are strong and remain a critical enabler of our growth aspirations. As you can see, we are moving closer to our consumers, advancing our smoke-free portfolio and improving our capabilities. Our talented employees bring deep expertise, a strong sense of ownership and a commitment to responsibility. They give me confidence that we are moving closer to achieving our vision.

With that, I'll turn it over to Sal to discuss our highly profitable smokeable products segment, progress toward our 2028 enterprise goals and our continuing commitment to shareholder returns.

Thanks, Billy. Let me begin with our smokeable products segment. We manage our smokeable business for the long term, which means that PM USA seeks to maximize profitability while maintaining Marlboro's strength over time. We believe we have effectively executed this strategy despite elevated cigarette volume declines in recent years. Over the past 5 years, the smokeable products segment has grown adjusted OCI by more than $950 million, representing a CAGR of 1.8%. Over the same time, adjusted OCI margins have expanded by 7 percentage points to 63.4%. In 2025, we saw a slight moderation in cigarette industry volume declines with volume gradually improving throughout the year. For the full year, the industry decline rate of 8% was 1% better than 2024, driven by the reduced impact from macroeconomic factors and cross-category movement.

As part of our fourth quarter results, we updated our estimate of cross-category impacts, which are primarily driven by illicit flavored disposable e-vapor products to a range of 2% to 3%. PM USA's primary focus remains on the premium segment, where the largest profit opportunity exists. Despite discount segment growth in recent years, the premium segment represented approximately 85% of cigarette manufacturer industry profit in 2025. Over time, PM USA has invested in Marlboro to reinforce the brand's leadership and strengthen the relationship we've built with the loyal routine-driven traditionalists that Billy described earlier. Those investments continue to pay off as Marlboro's share of premium expanded once again in 2025. And over the past 5 years, Marlboro outperformed other premium brands, growing its share of the highly profitable premium segment to 59.4%. This performance was supported by Marlboro smokers who remained highly loyal with brand loyalty rates above 95% in 2025.

Adult smokers have been under macroeconomic pressure from a variety of headwinds in recent years, including the cumulative impacts of inflation. Over time, PM USA has used RGM and certain Marlboro packings to meet the needs of value-sensitive Marlboro smokers. RGM informs the geographies and promotional rates where support is most effective, allowing PM USA to optimize promotional investments and portfolio architecture to support the smokeable products segment's overall strategy. PM USA's capabilities continue to evolve, and the next iteration of this approach is Marlboro Cowboy Cut. Cowboy Cut rides on the back of the brand's American heritage and delivers a classic Marlboro experience. We believe that provides a premium Marlboro option at the right price to retain value-sensitive smokers within the franchise, and we expect to begin expanding distribution later this year.

Historically, PM USA has maintained a presence in the discount segment and has effectively grown profitability through its discount brands over time. Last year, PM USA used RGM to reposition Basic, deploying discount strategies used in the past, but now with far greater precision. Today, Basic is strategically positioned in approximately 30,000 stores, which represents about 12% of PM USA's volume. This compares to the 290,000 store coverage of Marlboro. In addition, Basic is positioned in stores and geographies where discount brands are over-indexed, while Marlboro and other premium brands typically under-index relative to the industry. We believe Basic's 2025 performance reflects the effectiveness of PM USA's refined discount strategy. In the fourth quarter, basic retail share grew to 2.1%, an increase of 1.9 share points year-over-year. At the same time, the growth rate in the deep discount tier has moderated, while Basic has been the primary beneficiary of growth in branded discount.

As a result, we believe PM USA captured share it otherwise would have lost to competitive discount brands while limiting incremental impact to Marlboro. Basic retail footprint and brand investments are not static, and PM USA continues to make data-driven adjustments with the segment's long-term strategy in mind. Altogether, PM USA's total portfolio approach delivered in 2025. Marlboro grew share in premium, Basic gained traction in discount and total PM USA share declines moderated. In the fourth quarter of 2025, PM USA share decline was only 0.2 percentage points versus a 1.4 percentage point decline in the fourth quarter of 2024. These results reinforce our confidence in our smokeable strategy and its ability to support sustained long-term financial performance.

Let's now turn to our long-term adjacent growth opportunities. Billy outlined the U.S. smoke-free opportunity directly ahead of us. Outside of our U.S. nicotine efforts, we believe that international and non-nicotine opportunities can deliver incremental top line growth. We are investing with discipline to strengthen our competitive position, expand our product portfolio and achieve our long-term growth goals. Internationally, we are expanding our position in the fastest-growing smoke-free category, nicotine pouches. Last year, on!, on! PLUS, and FUMi competed across attractive and growing markets through e-commerce and targeted retail distribution. As we move closer to international consumers, we are sharpening our understanding of who they are, their usage occasions and preferred product attributes. Our research supports that FUMi has strong potential to connect with international pouch consumers.

Last year, we expanded nicotine pouch products to 7 markets and increased retail distribution by over 5x to more than 40,000 stores. In addition, we strengthened our international product portfolio with 3 new FUMi flavors, increasing the brand to 12 offerings across multiple nicotine strengths. As we scale our execution abroad, we are gaining valuable insights that we can apply to the evolving U.S. nicotine pouch category. U.S. nicotine presents another opportunity to drive incremental revenue growth over the long term. We are taking a disciplined test-and-learn approach to this space. In 2025, we tested more than 30 non-nicotine products across a range of formats. While we explored several areas, our research shows that energy is the most sought-after functional benefit for consumers. We continue to believe there is potential to disrupt the energy category in convenience stores, which we estimate to be a more than $19 billion opportunity.

We are advancing this strategy through our collaboration with Proper Wild. AGDC supported the expansion of Proper Wild's energy shots to more than 25,000 retail stores, where the brand is generating buzz. The product was recently recognized by Convenience Store News as the best new energy shot for 2025. And now we are expanding the Proper Wild portfolio and expect to begin distributing its energy gummies to test markets in the first half of this year. We believe Proper Wild Gummies stand out for their clean ingredients and our research shows strong consumer enthusiasm. Among convenience store shoppers, 70% intend to repurchase the product after trying it. This year, we expect to add two more differentiated products to further strengthen our non-nicotine portfolio. These products put us on pace to achieve our goal to commercialize and broadly distribute at least 5 non-nicotine products by 2028.

While we invest in our future, our traditional tobacco businesses continue to fuel the significant cash returns we've delivered for decades. In 2025, we hit two major milestones. In August, our Board increased our quarterly dividend by 3.9% to $1.06 per share, marking our 60th increase in 56 years. Since the 2008 PMI spin-off, we have provided over $100 billion in cash returns to shareholders, which approximates our current market capitalization. These achievements reinforce the resilience of our businesses and our long history of delivering shareholder value. We believe our consistent cash returns and earnings growth have positioned us as a compelling investment from a total shareholder return perspective. Over the past 5 years, our TSR has outperformed the S&P 500 and by a wide margin, the consumer staples sector and the S&P 500 food, beverage and tobacco industry group. On average, our businesses have annually produced more than $1 billion of cash in excess of dividend payments.

As we consider future excess cash generation, we expect to continue balancing share repurchases with investments in our vision. At the end of 2025, we had $1 billion remaining under our current $2 billion share repurchase program, which expires at the end of 2026. Our balance sheet remains strong with manageable debt maturity towers. None of our annual maturities exceed $2 billion through 2038. And at the end of last year, our debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2x. Our balance sheet is bolstered by our investment in ABI. At the end of last year, the fair value of our investment was $10.3 billion. And in 2025, ABI delivered over $200 million in dividends, up nearly 50% versus the prior year. We continue to view the ABI stake as a financial investment, and our goal remains to maximize the long-term value of the investment for our shareholders. We remain committed to our 2028 corporate goals and believe we are on track to achieve them.

We also continue to reassess our smoke-free goals and expect to provide updated goals when we have more clarity on how the legitimate e-vapor market may evolve. In summary, the U.S. nicotine space is growing and smoke-free categories represent a substantial long-term opportunity. We are building our position with compelling smoke-free products and advancing the capabilities needed to lead U.S. nicotine into the future and capture the harm reduction opportunity. Our smoke-free strategy is anchored and funded by the strength of our traditional tobacco businesses. Our smokeable and oral tobacco products segments continue to deliver robust margins and significant cash flow, which support disciplined capital allocation, including an attractive dividend and ongoing share repurchases.

With a strong balance sheet and our 2028 enterprise goals as a clear road map, we believe we are well positioned to drive long-term value creation. My confidence in the road ahead is grounded in our talented employees who passionately execute with purpose, embrace change and are central to advancing our vision. Thank you for your time and interest in Altria.

I'll now invite Billy back to the podium, and we'll take your questions.

I think we have time maybe for one question. And then we'll have plenty of time in the breakout room.

Bonnie?

I just had a question on the new Marlboro Cowboy Cut. Could you help frame for us how you're going to be positioning that maybe from a price perspective relative to some of the other Marlboro SKUs. Ultimately, what the objective is. I'd love to hear a little bit more from you on that. And I don't recall, did you say you've already been testing it? I'm just curious how incremental you expect this to be to the Marlboro brand family or a lot of cannibalization.

Sure. I think when you think about it, it's both an equity and a safe haven for consumers that are under pressure but want to stay in the Marlboro brand. It's the 250th anniversary of the U.S. and what's more Americana than Marlboro and the Cowboy. So it has that from an equity play. But certainly, as we see our consumer under pressure, think of it as it could be at discounted to the place of Marlboro Black. It's not to layer on top of Marlboro Black, but it allows different price adjustments to be made across the entire portfolio of the Marlboro brand. It's no different than we use special blend or other packings within Marlboro in the past. Thanks.

Great. Well, that's all the time we have. Please join me in thanking the management team of Altria for a great presentation. And we'll take the rest of the questions in the breakout room.

Good day, and welcome to the Altria Group 2025 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is scheduled to last about one hour, including remarks by Altria's management and a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Mac Livingston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Chloe. Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

This morning, Billy Gifford, Altria's CEO; and Sal Mancuso, our CFO, will discuss Altria's 2025 fourth quarter and full year business results.

Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation, quarterly metrics and our latest corporate responsibility reports are all available at altria.com. During our call today, unless otherwise stated, we're comparing results to the same period in 2024.

Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.

We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com.

Finally, all references in today's remarks to nicotine consumers or consumers within a specific nicotine category or segment refer to existing adult nicotine consumers 21 years of age or older.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Billy.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

2025 was a year of continued momentum for Altria marked by strong financial performance, strategic progress across our smoke-free portfolio, new relationships in support of our long-term growth goals, and significant cash returns to shareholders. Our leading brands and talented teams enabled our core tobacco businesses to deliver solid income growth and margin expansion while we invested in our vision.

For the full year, we grew adjusted diluted earnings per share by 4.4% and returned $8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases combined. As the year progressed, we achieved meaningful milestones that we believe advance our smoke-free portfolio and position us for sustained success in the U.S. nicotine space and for long-term adjacent growth.

In 2025, Helix received marketing granted orders from the FDA for certain on! Plus products. Horizon submitted a combined PMTA and MRTPA to the FDA for Ploom and Marlboro heated tobacco sticks. We entered into a strategic collaboration with KT&G to advance international modern oral, U.S. non-nicotine growth and traditional tobacco operating efficiencies. And we continue to advocate for a responsible and well-regulated marketplace.

My remarks this morning will focus on our latest view of the U.S. nicotine space our smoke-free progress and our earnings guidance for 2026. I'll then hand it over to Sal, who will provide further details on our business and financial results. Let's begin with our view of the U.S. nicotine space.

Over the past year, the estimated number of adult consumers in the e-vapor and oral tobacco categories, grew to almost 30 million, nearly as large as the adult smoker population and a reflection of the potential for tobacco harm reduction in the U.S. Total nicotine industry equivalized volumes increased for the third consecutive year and grew by approximately 2% over the past 5 years on a compounded annual basis. And we estimate that smoke-free alternatives represented more than 50% of the total nicotine space, up 5 percentage points from the prior year. However, the primary driver of industry and smoke-free growth continues to be the widespread availability of illicit flavored disposable e-vapor products invading the regulatory process, which jeopardizes the long-term tobacco harm reduction opportunity.

We estimate the e-vapor category grew approximately 15% in 2025 with illicit products representing approximately 70% of the category. At year-end, we estimate there were more than 20 million vapors with nearly 15 million using disposable products. We have long advocated for stronger enforcement against illicit products and an acceleration of FDA market authorizations for smoke-free products. In 2025, we saw increased engagement and action from federal agencies and government officials, including fourth quarter legislation requiring the FDA to allocate at least $200 million of tobacco user fees to enforcement activities.

Early signs suggest that these efforts, together with tariffs of Chinese manufactured goods, are beginning to impact the illicit marketplace. We are also seeing early indication that growth in the total number of disposable vapors is moderating. In 2025, disposable e-vapor volumes grew approximately 30% compared to over 50% in 2024. Growth in the number of disposable vapors also slowed, rising approximately 10% in 2025 versus over 40% in 2024.

Additionally, the FDA's pilot program to streamline PMTA reviews for certain oral nicotine pouches could be a meaningful step toward improved regulatory speed and clarity required to deliver products that meet adult consumer preferences and regulatory standards. While we are encouraged by this early progress, additional action is needed to accelerate product authorization decisions and ensure a level playing field for all manufacturers. We are hopeful that 2026 will bring consistent enforcement and further improvements to the regulatory process.

We continue to believe that responsible participation in the e-vapor category with products that meet consumer preferences supports our vision and our broader smoke-free strategy. We're making progress against our product pipeline and are executing with discipline and intention. The proliferation of illicit disposable products, pace of FDA authorizations and the intellectual property landscape remain significant headwinds. Accordingly, we intend to maintain a measured approach to our investments in e-vapor until the regulatory framework is functioning as intended, and enforcement actions meaningfully address the illicit market.

Let's now turn to the nicotine pouch category. Nicotine pouches continue to drive overall oral tobacco volume growth, which increased an estimated 14% over the past 6 months. In the fourth quarter, oral nicotine pouches grew 10.4 share points versus the prior year and now represent nearly 57% of the total oral category. Competitor promotional activity remained elevated during the fourth quarter. Average retail prices for category competitors in the fourth quarter declined 3% sequentially and 12% year-over-year. In contrast, Helix remained focused on balancing profitability with retaining loyal on! consumers. At retail, on!'s price increased by approximately 4% sequentially and 3% versus the prior year.

For the full year, Helix successfully delivered against its plans and contributed profitable growth to our oral tobacco products segment. In this environment, Helix was relatively stable in the fourth quarter, growing on! reported shipment volume to more than 44 million cans. For the full year, Helix grew on! reported shipment volume by approximately 11% to more than 177 million cans. on!'s retail share of the total oral tobacco category was 7.7% for the fourth quarter and 8.2% for the full year.

While Helix carefully stewarded going through disruptive second half market conditions, the team also prepared to bring on! Plus to the market. In December, the FDA authorized on! Plus Mint, Wintergreen and Tobacco in 6 and 9-milligram nicotine strengths with the 12-milligram variant still in the review process. Following authorization, Helix resumed shipments of on! Plus in Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

Innovation in pouch formats, including wet pouches, broader flavor variety and higher nicotine strength offerings is driving nicotine pouch growth. We believe on! Plus is a premium differentiated product that is well positioned to meaningfully participate in this growth. Early consumer feedback indicates that its innovative pouch material with smooth flavor proposition is a competitive advantage in the marketplace. In recent research, on! Plus Mint achieved higher overall purchase intention scores than the leading nicotine pouch brand and distinguished itself with superior pouch comfort and mouth feel, critical attributes in the nicotine pouch category.

In the fourth quarter, Helix began laying the foundation to expand on! Plus nationally. Our teams made strategic investments in retail merchandising fixtures and equity to prepare for the on! Plus national launch planned for the first half of this year. In 2026, Helix plans to focus on generating trial for on! Plus and retaining adopters for on! classic. We anticipate Helix will continue to be profitable for the full year 2026.

Looking to the future. Helix strategy remains focused on innovation, and responsibly delivering on consumer preferences. In November, Helix submitted PMTA applications for on! Plus products in 6 additional flavor varieties across 3 nicotine strengths. Helix looks forward to bringing these new products to the U.S. market.

Turning to our international smokefree efforts, we continue to focus on the fast-growing nicotine pouch category. In 2025, on!, on! Plus and our newly added FUMi brand competed across select international markets through e-commerce and targeted retail distribution. FUMi appeals to the 80% of consumers interested in slim, [indiscernible] pouch products. Early performance has been encouraging, supporting our expansion to 40,000 retail locations in 7 markets. In addition, we added 3 new line extensions bringing the brand to 12 unique flavor offerings.

Our broadened nicotine pouch portfolio has accelerated international expansion and is generating valuable consumer insights that will inform future product development. While these are early days, we believe our expanded international portfolio and the momentum from our efforts in 2025, put us on a path towards accomplishing our long-term international smoke-free growth goals.

Moving to our 2026 financial outlook. We expect to deliver 2026 full year adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.56 and to $5.72. This range represents a growth rate of 2.5% to 5.5% from a $5.42 base in 2025. We expect growth to be weighted to the second half of the year, reflecting a progressive increase in cigarette import and export activity over the course of the year. Our guidance contemplates planned investments to support our contract manufacturing capabilities, limited impact on combustible and e-vapor product volumes from illicit enforcement efforts, and NJOY ACE not returning to the marketplace in 2026.

We remain committed to our ambition and to building a portfolio of FDA-authorized smoke-free products for adult smokers and nicotine consumers who use smoke-free products. Our planned investment areas include marketplace activities in support of our smoke-free products and continued smoke-free product research, development and regulatory preparations.

In summary, Altria continued to build momentum in 2025. Our core businesses remain resilient. We advanced our smoke-free portfolio and we opened new pathways for long-term growth in international modern oral and non and U.S. non-nicotine innovation. These efforts support our vision and enterprise goals. I am confident in our strategy, energized by the opportunities ahead and grateful for our employees' commitment to delivering long-term shareholder value.

I'll now turn it over to Sal to provide additional details on our business and financial results.

Thanks, Billy. Our core tobacco businesses delivered solid financial performance again this year in a dynamic external environment. The smokeable products segment delivered over $11 billion in adjusted OCI for the full year and expanded adjusted OCI margins by 1.8 percentage points to 63.4%. This performance was supported by robust net price realization of 8.4%. For the fourth quarter, adjusted OCI declined by 2.4% and adjusted OCI margins contracted by 0.8 percentage points to 60.4%.

Year-over-year cost per pack comparisons were impacted by higher manufacturing costs driven by investments to build PM USA cigarette import and export capabilities. Smokable Products segment, domestic cigarette volumes declined by 7.9% in the fourth quarter and 10% for the full year. When adjusted for calendar differences and trade inventory movements, domestic cigarette volumes declined by 7% in the fourth quarter and 9.5% for the full year.

At the industry level, when adjusted for trade inventory movements, calendar differences and other factors, we estimate domestic cigarette volumes declined by 8% for the full year and by 6.5% for the fourth quarter, representing a sequential improvement of approximately 1.5 percentage points. As Billy described, illicit flavor disposable e-vapor growth moderated slightly in 2025 compared to the prior year. We have closely monitored this trend and its impact on cigarette industry decline rates.

Based on our latest data, we are updating our cigarette category decomposition. We now estimate that cross-category impacts primarily driven by illicit flavored disposable e-vapor contributed approximately 2% to 3% and to the cigarette industry decline over the past 12 months versus our prior estimate of 3% to 4%. In the discount segment, persistent discretionary income pressures remain the primary driver of growth. We also believe that the discount cigarette segment was most affected by the change in cost category impact.

For the fourth quarter and full year, discount retail share grew by 2.6 share points and 2.2 share points, respectively. Continued discount segment growth pressured Marlboro's retail share, which declined 1.5 share points in the fourth quarter and 1.2 share points for the full year. In the premium segment, competitive dynamics during the fourth quarter contributed to Marlboro's share premium decreasing 0.1 share points to 59.2%.

For the full year, Marlboro remained the undisputed leader in the highly profitable premium segment, growing its share to 59.4%, up 0.1 share point versus the prior year. Basic continued to capture share in the discount segment, reflecting PM USA's data-driven total portfolio approach to meeting a broad set of consumer needs. In the fourth quarter, Basic retail share grew by 0.6 share points sequentially and 1.9 share points year-over-year. Basic strong performance demonstrates PM USA's ability to deploy advanced RGM capabilities to effectively compete in the most price-sensitive stores, while minimizing incremental impact to Marlboro.

In cigars, Middleton continued to outperform in the large mass cigar industry. For the fourth quarter and full year, Middleton reported shipment volume increased 4.2% and 1.8%, respectively.

Let's turn now to the oral tobacco products segment. Strategic investments behind on! and on! Plus contributed to a 4.6% decline in adjusted OCI for the fourth quarter. Over the same period, segment adjusted OCI margins contracted by 5 percentage points to 64.5%. For the full year, adjusted OCI increased by 1.3% and adjusted OCI margins expanded modestly by 0.1 percentage points to 67.9%.

Total segment reported shipment volume decreased 6.3% for the fourth quarter and 5.5% for the full year as growth in on! was more than offset by lower MST volumes. When adjusted for trade inventory movements and calendar differences, we estimate that fourth quarter and full year oral tobacco products segment volumes declined by 6% and 4.5%, respectively. Oral Tobacco Products segment retail share was 29.6% for the fourth quarter and 31.9% for the full year.

Let's turn to an update on our e-vapor reporting unit. As Billy mentioned, while enforcement activity has increased, efforts thus far have not meaningfully reduced illicit e-vapor volumes to date. We now believe that effective sustained enforcement will develop over time at a more gradual pace. Given this dynamic, we performed impairment assessments of the e-vapor definite-live intangible assets and goodwill in the fourth quarter. Based on these assessments, we recorded noncash impairment charges of $1.3 billion. We continue to believe we gain valuable assets and capabilities in the NJOY acquisition that can be applied to a future e-vapor pipeline to meet consumer preferences over the long term.

Before moving on from e-vapor, I'd like to point out a reporting change you will see in our 2025 financials. In accordance with accounting standards, we updated our reportable segments for the full year 2025, and to also include the e-vapor products segment, which consists of our Njoy business.

Turning to ABI's financial results. we recorded $161 million of adjusted equity earnings in the fourth quarter, up 1.3% versus the prior year. We continue to view the ABI stake as a financial investment, and our goal remains to maximize the long-term value of the investment for our shareholders.

Before I conclude, I'd like to highlight that as we continue to invest for the long-term success of the business, we are, at the same time, returning significant value to shareholders. In 2025, we paid $7 billion in dividends, and our Board raised our dividend by 3.9% in August, marking our 60th increase in the last 56 years. We also repurchased more than 17 million shares for $1 billion under our $2 billion share repurchase program. At the end of the fourth quarter, we had $1 billion remaining under the current program, which expires at the end of 2026.

We effectively balanced our capital allocation priorities during the year. and our balance sheet remains strong. Our total debt-to-EBITDA ratio as of December 31 was 2x, in line with our target.

With that, we'll wrap up and Billy and I will be happy to take your questions. While the calls are being compiled, I'll remind you that today's earnings release and our non-GAAP reconciliations are available on altria.com. We've also posted our usual quarterly metrics, which include pricing, inventory and other items. Operator, let's open the question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Matt Smith with Stifel.

Billy, the fiscal 2026 outlook ranges, you know the benefit from import export activity building in the second half. Can you provide any color on the scope of the program? We calculate today that the percent of packs with the FET benefits around 3%. And if the second half benefits are more weighted towards cost normalizing associated with the initiative versus increased volume throughput that would unlock greater tax efficiency?

Yes. It's a little bit of both, Matt. We're a bit reluctant to share any of the specifics there, but certainly, there are some upfront investments that are moderate as we go through the year. We think those investments are wise. Not only are we able to make those investments and afford ourselves the opportunity of the duty drawback, but it also sets the manufacturing center that we have here in Richmond up to be available to produce for any market internationally, with some of the changes and differences in international markets versus the U.S. market.

In addition, as we've said previously, with the duty drawback, we're looking to not be at a competitive disadvantage regarding that, and we'll continue to look for opportunities to expand.

I appreciate that perspective. And as a follow-up before I pass it along, the 2026 CapEx guide is elevated. I think that's associated with the investments you're talking about to unlock the double duty drawback efficiency. The $300 million to $375 million investment level, is that -- should we think of this as a onetime increase in CapEx? Or do you expect kind of a multiyear higher CapEx level as we look forward?

Yes, Matt, thanks for the question. You are correct. The primary driver of the increase is the -- are the investments for our import export business. I'll repeat what Billy said, it not only provides us the ability to participate in the duty drawback, but it does provide us with capabilities for our longer-term vision. I would say obviously, we're not going to guide for future CapEx, but we are making investments today. They generally proceed the volume, if you think about it for the import export, but we're also making investments in our smoke-free portfolio.

Obviously, we want to have the appropriate manufacturing capability for products like on! Plus and future pipeline products. We believe that for a company of our size, it's still a relatively low level of capital expenditures, but we're going to be disciplined and diligent when we make those capital investments.

We'll move next to Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs.

I guess I also had a couple of questions on the double duty drawback. I guess first, is it fair to assume your aggressive promotional strategy behind Basic, which is weighing on your net price realization and dollar OCI growth in smokeable? I mean, has that been implemented with the idea that these pressures can be offset this year as you ramp your import/export activity with KT&G? And then I guess without a pretty big step-up of this activity, it does seem like your smokeable dollar profit growth will likely remain negative, which could put you at the low end of your full year EPS guidance, right? So just any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Yes. I would disaggregate those two. Everyone wants to keep combining those two decisions, and we see them as independent of one another. Certainly, we're not going to be at a competitive disadvantage for the duty drawback, as we discussed earlier. I think when you think about the strategy around Basic, remember that's only deployed in, call it, roughly over 30,000 stores. So it's not a nationwide type effort. What we saw there were a number of stores where the consumer has been under severe economic pressures. And that's really the major cause of that has been the cumulative inflation that the consumer has been experiencing.

And we felt that while it was prudent to invest behind Basic, not much different than if you go back in history, Basic before and then [indiscernible] other times, now we're repositioning Basic. And so in those 30,000 stores, we are able to apply the revenue growth management analytics that we have invested in and you see the superb performance of Basic, what it does is it captures consumers that would have gone to a deep discount. And it allows us to capture it with latent equity and as the economic situation changes for our consumers adjust accordingly.

All right. And then any thoughts on just this notion of if you don't get a lot more activity to import export, just thinking about the EPS range you put out there, which is pretty wide.

Not any wider, Bonnie, if you go back, we typically open the year with about a 3% range. And then we [indiscernible] accordingly as we move through the year and have more insight to how the year is going to play out. We feel very pleased to be able to provide the range that we provided and look forward to continuing through the year.

Okay. And then maybe just a little bit of a follow-up, it just as we're talking about Basic, but -- so then it does beg a question on Marlboro. Your retail share on the brand did drop below 40% for the first time, I think, ever. So how are you thinking about your strategy behind Marlboro? And then how much of your promotional strategy on Basic is maybe cannibalizing Marlboro? So I guess, Billy, maybe I'd love to hear whether or not you might consider changing your strategy on Marlboro? And are you maybe rethinking your strategy to balance share with the goal of driving profitability?

Yes. I think it's important, Bonnie, to remember the strategy we used to manage the smokable stuff. It's to maximize profitability over the long term while making appropriate investments in Marlboro in the growth categories and we feel like we're executing against that. And so when you think about Marlboro overall, we feel very good about the strength of the brand. Certainly, in the fourth quarter, you saw product availability in the e-vapor related to enforcement. And I think it's intuitive that the consumer was feeling some price break when they moved over to e-vapor, as that product availability is no longer available.

And I don't want you to think that the consumer is moving back and forth. It's primarily dual consumers, those that are using cigarettes and those that are using e-vapor and they decide on the occasion which product to use. As product availability was much less due to enforcement, and they went back to more cigarette occasions in their day, it's intuitive that discounts brands benefited from that. I think through time, we'll see if that holds true or not. I think from a standpoint of your question related to Marlboro versus Basic, we feel like with our analytics, we feel comfortable that it's not impacting our cannibalizing Marlboro in the marketplace.

Certainly, from a mathematical standpoint, the more Basic grows, its share grows and it affects the brands in the marketplace, but we don't feel like it's having any outsized impact on Marlboro.

We'll take our next question from Eric Serotta with Morgan Stanley.

Just wondering, first, if you have any commentary or color around some of the articles and kind of popular press lately about increase in smoking incidents among younger 20-something legal-aged nicotine users? We don't really seem to see it in the data yet, but you guys have better data on this than anyone. So wondering if you're seeing any increased incidents among any of the younger legal cohorts?

And then a separate question. Looking at on! Plus, could you talk a bit about the pricing strategy there? Where you plan to position it sort of as you get past the initial introductory and trial periods? Do you think that, that could command a premium to the classic and what you're thinking about in terms of pricing there?

Yes, thanks for the questions. I think related to your first one, I would refer you to the vision, which is to move consumers in a responsible fashion to smoke-free products. Nothing in the trends that I would point to. I've seen some of the same stories you have. And that is why we've been asking the FDA for an expedited authorization process, so you can get smoke-free products in the marketplace and inform consumers about the risk of the various forms of nicotine in the marketplace.

As far as on! Plus pricing, while I'll be careful not to play out our whole strategy, that we do believe on! Plus is a differentiated product and commands a premium in the marketplace and I would really direct you to go on nicotine.com. And what you can see is the price differential where e-commerce now is live on a national basis, you'll see the price differential that on! Plus is listed at there versus on! classic. So we feel good about the strategy.

Certainly, as we introduce the retail, we'll have various introductory price promotions, and that can vary state by state. So we'll continue to use our analytics, but we feel very excited about the differentiation we have and the consumer feedback related to that differentiation.

Great. And then just one follow-up on the double duty drawback, not to beat a dead horse here. But just in terms of sizing the potential here, can you talk or provide any color on what you're doing here that may be apart from the KT&G partnership or relationship? Are there things that are already in place, things that are set to ramp, I guess, separate from KT&G.? Just looking for to see if there was any scope apart from one partnership here and how you're thinking about adding capacity?

Yes, I think when you think about it, the capital in that opportunity is truly the matching of exports with imports. And as much as you can match on those, that is the -- if you will, the cap through time, related to what's the opportunity. As far as specifics around individual companies or partners that we have relationships with, I'm not going to get into the detail there. Know that we are continuing to seek opportunities because we're not going to be put at a competitive disadvantage related to those other competitors that have both foreign or international manufacturing capacity and U.S.-based. So we'll continue to seek opportunities as we go through time.

We'll take our next question from Faham Baig with UBS.

A couple of questions from me as well. If I could come back to the controllable costs, I calculate they were up 14.5% in the quarter, and that sort of compares to a 9-month run rate of 9.5%. Was the investment behind this import and export the sole reason behind the different outcome in the fourth quarter? Or would there be any other factors that you would point to? I would think the former is one-off in nature, but it would be good if you could clarify that as well.

And I guess, secondly, I have a few clarifications on nicotine pouches. Do I understand that you will be national with on! Plus in the first half of this year? Or you plan to start the national rollout? And I presume as you've sort of passed this comment, there aren't any sort of supply chain issues that you would be worried about? And then the second clarification is on the momentum in on! Plus. I know it's been in the market for a few weeks now. Are you able to provide any in-state data from a market share perspective that you may have seen in the early readings that we can try and extrapolate from, please?

Yes, so we'll try to unpack all of those. I'll let Sal start with controllable costs, but if we miss any, please follow up.

Yes. Faham, you are correct. It is predominantly the investments we are making around our manufacturing process for import export. If you think about it, there were different pack configurations, as an example. There are different capabilities we need for international markets. An example would be track and trace capabilities. So those investments precede really the volume and revenue you get from the export volume. So that is the driver that you are seeing.

Yes. As far as nicotine pouches, you're correct, we'll be national through the first half of this year, 2026. As far as momentum, while I would love to be able to share exact volumes or exact shares, it was a bit messy. You'll recall, we launched in 3 states. Then we halted shipments to those 3 states related to the pilot program that was kicked off by the FDA. We have now launched back into those 3 states or resumed shipments. And again, we'll be national through the first half of this year.

What we can share is the positive feedback anecdotally we received from consumers. It really supported some of the research we had where the consumer really sees differentiation in the mouth feel and the softness of the pouch paired with great flavor. And so we're excited to be able to bring that national as we progress through the first half of this year.

We'll move next to Pallav Mittal with Barclays.

I have three of them. Firstly, just a follow up. So on this on! Plus distribution, if I could just ask, I mean, why are you starting with these three states and not go out national from the start because we do have the distribution in place already? And this [indiscernible], is there any inventory benefit from on! Plus in the Q4 numbers?

Yes. So from a standpoint, really no benefit in Q4. Remember, we had just initially started distribution in the 3 states, and then we halted that as we progressed through the end of the year. So we had very minimal and it was a bit messy. I think when you think about why the 3 states versus national, it was easy. The sales force had already sold it into retailers, it was easy to turn those shipments back on and they're in the process of doing that on a national basis. So that will follow as we progress through the first half of 2026. I think that got all of your questions, but if I missed one, please follow up.

That was the first one. Sir, secondly, if I can ask in your comments, you said that the pricing from competitors in nicotine pouches was down 3% sequentially and 12% Y-o-Y. But that is not what I think Scanner data suggests, and it seems pricing is rather up for the larger players. So can you just help us understand what we are missing there? Is there anything in terms of promotions or trade margins or some other factors?

Yes, so you're correct. We did say down 3% sequentially 12% for the year from a competitive standpoint. That's all competitors combined. I think what you saw was a significant competitor promotion that took place in the third quarter into the fourth, where free cans were distributed for any nicotine purchase. That had a significant impact on competitive pricing in the marketplace. As far as -- and we're excluding, if you will, on! classic. From on! classic, we were up in price, both sequentially and total year.

So that was the comparison we were trying to draw that there's significant promotional activity in nicotine pouch both in the third quarter and the fourth quarter.

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our next question from Damian McNeela with Deutsche.

The first question is just on the basic strategy. And can you clarify or confirm that the 30,000 stores that you targeted is kind of the ceiling? Or are there any potential stores that you may consider entering into during the course of '26? This is the first question. The second question is just, are you able to sort of indicate the payback time from the investment that you're making in manufacturing facilities to help import exports? And then the last one is just on the step-up in costs that you saw in Q4, are they likely to repeat in Q1 and Q2? Or are they done now? And it's the second half will see an improvement because you're seeing improved import export volumes?

Yes. So I'll take the first 1 and then I'll turn it over to Sal. As far as basic again, slightly over 30,000 stores currently. We'll continue to monitor the situation. We want to be there for our consumer that's under economic pressure. We feel like it's prudent, Basic has performed very well. As I mentioned earlier, L&M used to play that role for us, and we've increased profitability on L&M. And it allows us, as the economic situation changes, we're still in connection and the consumers in our portfolio of brands.

We're able to have conversations with them through time. And as that economic situation changes, you can look to see us adjust price [indiscernible] in the marketplace. So we feel like it's good as far as number of stores, it will make adjustments around the fringes, but we feel like we're in the right group of stores, but we'll continue to monitor that as we go through 2026.

Sure. And Damian, into your other 2 questions, the return on investment for the import export is very strong. The payback is less than a year. As far as continued spending, as Billy pointed out earlier, the back half weighted nature of our EPS growth guidance really is both volume and costs. So there are some incremental costs that continue to happen before you realized revenue, and that happens when you enter different markets or different partnership arrangements. So yes, we expect some elevated investments upfront as you get more volume through the import export process.

There appears to be no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Mac Livingston for any closing remarks.

Thanks, everybody, for joining us today. Have a great day. And if you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to Investor Relations.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

Good day, and welcome to the Altria Group 2025 Third Quarter and 9 Months Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is scheduled to last about 1 hour, including remarks by Altria's management and a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions].

I would now like to turn the call over to Mac Livingston, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks, Angela. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. This morning, Billy Gifford, Altria's CEO; and Sal Mancuso, our CFO, will discuss Altria's third quarter and first 9 months business results. Earlier today, we issued a press release providing our results. The release, presentation, quarterly metrics and our latest corporate responsibility reports are all available at altria.com.

During our call today, unless otherwise stated, we're comparing results to the same period in 2024. Our remarks contain forward-looking statements, including projections of future results. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statement section at the end of today's earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from projections. Future dividend payments and share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Today's call will contain various operating results on both a reported and adjusted basis. Adjusted results exclude special items that affect comparisons with reported results. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in today's earnings release and on our website at altria.com.

Finally, all references in today's remarks to tobacco consumers or consumers within a specific tobacco category or segment refer to existing adult tobacco consumers 21 years of age or older.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Billy.

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Altria continued to build significant momentum in the third quarter with exciting progress across our businesses. For the third quarter, we delivered strong financial performance growing adjusted diluted earnings per share by 3.6%, and we continue to make meaningful progress across our smoke fruit portfolio and toward our long-term adjacency girls.

On held steady in a highly competitive environment, and Helix announced plans to launch on! PLUS its innovative next-generation oral product. Horizon also made important regulatory filings for a joint venture and heated tobacco products.

Looking at our long-term adjacent growth opportunities -- we announced a collaboration with KT&G to explore opportunities in international innovative smoke-free products and U.S. non-nicotine products. And importantly, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to returning value to our shareholders.

In August, we announced our 60th dividend increase in 56 years -- and yesterday, our Board authorized an expansion of our share repurchase program. My remarks this morning will focus on results from ON and the launch of on! PLUS, updates on our heated tobacco and e-vapor portfolio, the state of the regulatory environment and our strategic relationship with KT&G. I'll then turn it over to Sal, who will provide further details on our business results, 2025 outlook and our continued commitment to providing significant cash returns to shareholders.

Let's begin with ON and the nicotine pouch category. Oral nicotine pouches continue to be the primary driver of the estimated 14.5% increase in oral tobacco industry volume over the past 6 months. In the third quarter, nicotine pouches grew to 55.7 share points an increase of 11.1 share points year-over-year. Competitor promotional activity was highly elevated during the third quarter, particularly during September. Driving incremental growth for nicotine pouches.

We continue to monitor how this elevated promotional activity influences longer-term brand adoption. Despite this competitive landscape, Helix was steady in the third quarter, growing on reported shipment volume to over 42 million cans, representing an increase of nearly 1% and versus the prior year. For the first 9 months, Helix grew on reported shipment volume to over 133 million cans, representing an increase of approximately 15% versus the prior year.

While third quarter shipment volumes for on! were influenced by trade inventory dynamics driven by promotional activity in the category we remain encouraged by the steady consumer demand reflected in our estimated retail takeaway. In fact, One's retail share of the total oral tobacco category was 8.7% for the third quarter and first 9 months, demonstrating stability for the quarter and an increase of 0.8 share points for the first 9 months.

On's retail price increased by approximately 1.5% in the third quarter versus the prior year. In contrast to the balance of the nicotine pouch category, where average retail prices for the category declined 7% nationally and more than 70% in 1 major retail chain. A clear reflection of the intense promotional activity during the quarter.

Yet, Helix's year-over-year results continue to be a meaningful contributor to the oral tobacco products segment adjusted OCI stability and adjusted OCI margin expansion in the third quarter.

Helix is positioning itself for long-term sustainable success. Helix recently launched on! PLUS in Florida, North Carolina and Texas, and we are encouraged by the recent actions from the FDA that signal progress toward a more efficient and transparent authorization process for nicotine pouches, which I'll discuss later in my remarks.

On! PLUS launched with 3 flavors and 3 nicotine strengths, which we believe are complementary to the current own portfolio. We believe On! PLUS is a premium and differentiated product that we expect to appeal to both adults who dip and competitive nicotine pouch consumers.

On! PLUS uniquely delivers on 3 desirable attributes for pouch consumers. Comfort, nicotine delivery and flavor satisfaction. In recent research, we compared On! PLUS mint against several leading competitive brands. While a small sample size -- On! PLUS outperformed all competitive brands in the sample. Forms achieved the highest purchasing temp score driven by the comfort of the pouch. In addition, innovation and consumer preferences remain at the forefront of Helix strategy. Helix continues to build a pipeline of new on-us flavors and looks forward to bringing them to the U.S. market.

In heated tobacco, Horizon completed a key milestone on its path to bring Ploom to the U.S. In August, Horizon filed a combined PMTA and MRTPA with the FDA for Ploom and Marlboro heated tobacco sticks. We believe the science and evidence supporting horizons applications are compelling and present a strong case for FDA authorizations. Our teams are working diligently who includes go-to-market plans and we look forward to engaging smokers with this innovative product. Moving to our e-vapor business and enjoy. We believe we have completed the product design of a modified Enjoy a solution that addresses all 4 disputed patents. Our teams are evaluating the potential pathways to bring the modified ACE product to market.

During the third quarter, both Enjoy and JUUL initiated new litigation against 1 another. JUUL initiated litigation in federal court and before the ITC against Enjoy a certain claims of patent infringement based on sales of enjoy daily and on any other products enjoy may be developing that would infringe JUUL's patents. We do not expect a final determination from the ITC before early 2027, and intend to vigorously defend our positions in this litigation. In addition, Enjoy initiated litigation against JUUL in Federal Court and before the ITC are certain claims of patent infringement based on the sale of certain deal products. As we assess our path forward with ACE and worked diligently on our innovative product pipeline in e-vapor, the market remains saturated with flavored disposable e-vapor products the majority of which we believe have abated the regulatory process.

At the end of the third quarter, we estimate the e-vapor category included approximately 21 million vapors up nearly $2 million versus a year ago. During the same period, disposable vapors increased by an estimated $2.4 million to nearly $15 million. We believe that flavored disposable e-vapor products continue to represent over 60% of the category. This remains a significant issue, but we are encouraged by the recent enforcement actions and constructive regulatory dialogue that signaled progress.

For some time, we have advocated for stronger enforcement against the list of products as well as for an acceleration in FDA market authorizations for Smokefree products. During the third quarter, we observed notable enforcement efforts targeting the listed products and welcomed positive plans from the FDA regarding the pace of authorizations within the nicotine oral nicotine pouch category.

On the enforcement front, we continue to see elevated engagement and action from federal agencies and government officials. These actions included: Coordinated rates executed by the federal multi-agency task force across the U.S., resulting in the seizure of hundreds of thousands of enlisted vapor products from retailers and wholesalers and the potential for further legal action.

Ongoing seizures of illicit products including seizure by HHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection of more than 4 million units of illicit vapor products with an estimated retail value over $86 million the largest seizure of this kind and a targeted nationwide operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, focused on the list of activity at vape shops.

These federal actions alongside efforts at the state and local level are signs of progress. However, we believe sustained and coordinated enforcement is necessary to materially impact the state of the market. We remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting a well-functioning regulatory system.

It is critical to unlock the full potential of tobacco harm reduction. These ongoing enforcement efforts are essential to provide adult consumers with access to regulated products that are supported by science and are aligned with public health goals.

Beyond enforcement, we have been advocating for the FDA to accelerate product authorizations and established a responsible marketplace for smoke-free products. Regulatory speed and clarity are also essential to delivering innovative options that meet adult consumer preferences and advanced [ Harmoduction. ] In September, the FDA launched a pilot program to streamline PMTA reviews for all nicotine pouches and Helix was notified by the FDA and that applications for ARMs are included in the program. We're encouraged by this development from the FDA, and we are actively engaging with the FDA on these product applications.

While the pilot only applies to certain nicotine pouches, we hope it signals broader FDA efforts to increase the speed of regulatory decisions across all smoke-free platforms. As we pursue the smoke-free opportunity within the U.S., we remain committed to our long-term adjacent growth goals. In September, we took another step forward when we announced a new collaboration with KT&G.

First, we are jointly exploring opportunities to grow global demand for nicotine pouch products. including the potential expansion of the own portfolio into select international markets. As part of our initial steps in international modern oral, we entered into an agreement with KT&G to acquire an ownership interest in another snus factory, the manufacturer of the Loop Nitin Couch brand.

Loop is currently available in a range of strengths with unique flavors. Our research shows that complex flavors are driving growth for modern oral in international markets, and we are pleased to add our investment in ASF to complement our portfolio of ON, On! PLUS and Tumi to effectively compete across all modern oral product segments.

Second, our collaboration includes the exploration of opportunities in U.S. non-item, specifically in the energy and wellness space with KT&G's Korea Jensen Corporation, leveraging their product expertise and our commercial capabilities.

In addition, as part of our relationship with KT&G, we're exploring ways to improve operational efficiency in traditional tobacco with the potential benefits for both companies and our respective home regions. We believe this collaboration further supports our enterprise goals and may strengthen our capabilities relevant to international nicotine products.

We're excited about our new relationship with KT&G and look forward to providing updates on our joint efforts.

In summary, Altria continued to build momentum in the third quarter. Our core tobacco businesses remained resilient. We advanced our smoke-free portfolio -- and we opened new pathways for long-term adjacent growth in international modern gold and U.S. non-nicotine innovation. These efforts support the commitment to our vision and enterprise goals.

I'm confident in our strategy, energized by the opportunities ahead and thankful for our team's continued dedication to delivering long-term shareholder value.

I'll now turn it over to Sal to provide more detail on the business environment and our results.

Thanks, Billy. Altria delivered strong third quarter and first 9 months financial performance. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 3.6% in the third quarter and by 5.9% for the first 9 months.

In the smokeable products segment, adjusted operating company's income grew by 0.7% to nearly $3 billion in the third quarter and by 2.5% to $8.4 billion for the first 9 months. Adjusted OCI margins expanded to 64.4% for the third quarter and first 9 months, representing impressive margin growth of 1.3 percentage points and 2.7 percentage points, respectively.

Smokeable Products segment reported domestic cigarette volumes declined by 8.2% in the third quarter and 10.6% for the first 9 months. When adjusted for trade inventory movements and calendar differences, the segment's domestic cigarette volumes for the third quarter declined by an estimated 9%, slightly above the estimated 8% volume declines at the industry level.

For the first 9 months, when adjusted for calendar differences and trade inventory movements, the segment's domestic cigarette volumes declined by an estimated 10.5% and and by 8.5% at the industry level.

PM USA continues to execute on its strategy of maximizing profitability over the long term. While maintaining its focus on Marlboro and the premium segment, PM USA recognizes the opportunity to compete within the discount segment, guided by data-driven strategies. Within the highly profitable premium segment, Marlboro maintained its long-standing leadership in the category.

In the third quarter, Marlboro expanded its share of the premium segment by 3/10 to 59.6% versus the prior year and by 1/10 sequentially. At the same time, PM USA continued to strategically invest behind basic, appealing to a price-sensitive cohort of adult smokers within the discount segment. Many adult smokers continue to face discretionary spending pressures resulting from a variety of macroeconomic headwinds, including the compounding effects of inflation.

Leveraging PM USA's data analytics and robust RGM tools, basic grew 0.9 share point sequentially and 1.4 share points year-over-year for the third quarter. The discount segment of the industry expanded by 2.4 share points year-over-year with basic capturing over half of that growth.

Importantly, our data show that most of basic share gains came from adult smokers already within the discount segment, with limited impact on Marlboro. As a result of the combined efforts across the PM USA portfolio of brands, cigarette retail share increased sequentially for the second consecutive quarter to 45.4%, growing 0.3 share points in the third quarter.

Cigars also continued to be a meaningful contributor to our smokeable products segment results. For the third quarter and the 9 months, Middleton reported shipment volume increased 2% and and 1.1%, respectively, as Middleton outperformed in the large mass cigar industry.

Let's turn now to the Oral Tobacco Products segment. In the third quarter, adjusted OCI declined by less than 1%. Over the same period, the segment saw improved profitability through impressive adjusted OCI margin expansion of 2.4 percentage points to 69.2%. For the first 9 months, adjusted OCI increased by 3.3%, with adjusted OCI margin expansion of 1.8 percentage points to 69%.

Calix' year-over-year performance was a meaningful contributor to the stability of adjusted OCI in the third quarter and to the adjusted OCI growth for the first 9 months. Total segment reported shipment volume decreased 9.6% for the third quarter and 5.2% for the first 9 months. As growth in AN was more than offset by lower MST volumes. When adjusted for calendar differences and trade inventory movements, we estimate that third quarter and first 9 months, oral tobacco products segment volumes declined by an estimated 5.5% and 3.5%, respectively.

Oral Tobacco Products segment retail share was 31.1% for the third quarter and 32.9% for the first 9 months. In the highly profitable moist smokeless tobacco segment, Copenhagen continued to maintain its long-standing premium leadership.

Turning to ABI's financial results. We recorded $157 million of adjusted equity earnings in the third quarter, up 9% and versus the prior year. As Billy mentioned, our businesses performed well in a dynamic environment during the first 9 months of the year, and we effectively maintained the strength of our core tobacco businesses while investing toward our vision.

As a result, we raised the lower end of our 2025 guidance range. We now expect to deliver adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.37 to $5.45, representing a growth rate of 3.5% and to 5% from a base of $5.19 in 2024. We expect EPS growth to moderate in the fourth quarter as we lap the lower share count associated with the 2024 accelerated share repurchase program and the benefit of the MSA legal fund expiration.

We are also mindful of the challenged state of tobacco consumers and will continue to closely monitor the purchasing behaviors. Our strong financial performance for the first 9 months enabled us to return nearly $6 billion to our shareholders, including $5.2 billion in dividends and $712 million in share repurchases.

We remain committed to providing significant cash returns to our shareholders. as demonstrated by our recent dividend increase and share repurchase announcement. In August, our board increased our regular quarterly dividend by 3.9% to $1.06 per share, marking our 60th dividend increase in 56 years. This milestone underscores our legacy of delivering consistent shareholder value and highlights the resilience of our businesses through decades of change.

And today, we announced that our Board authorized the expansion of our existing share repurchase program from $1 billion to $2 billion, which now expires on December 31 and 2026. Lastly, our balance sheet remains strong. Our debt-to-EBITDA ratio as of September 30 was in line with our target of approximately 2x. With that, we'll wrap up, and Billy and I will be happy to take your questions.

While the calls are being compiled, I'll remind you that today's earnings release and our non-GAAP reconciliations are available on altria.com. We've also posted our usual quarterly metrics, which include pricing, inventory and other items.

Operator, let's open the question-and-answer period.

[Operator Instructions]. We will take questions from the investment community first. Our first question comes from Matt Smith with Stifel.

Sal, you raised the low end of the guidance again, which is nice to see here, but the fourth quarter implies a deceleration in the earnings growth. You called out lapping the share repurchase and the MSA legal fee expiration. Are there any other key puts and takes as we think about the fourth quarter and more importantly, the path to growing smokeable OCI again?

Thank you, Matt. No, as you mentioned, we did talk about the share repurchase and the MSA legal funnel. I'll also say we continue to monitor consumer spending, the marketplace remains dynamic. So I would really focus on that, but we feel really good about the ability to narrow guidance by raising the bottom -- we're very pleased with the first 9-month financial performance.

And then smokable profitability, again, we feel really good about PM USA's performance their ability to expand margins for Marlboro remains strong within the premium segment. So we feel really good about the smokable business and happy to be able to provide the guidance.

And as a follow-up, you called out the underlying cigarette industry rate of decline moderating on a sequential basis. Billy, I know you provide the 12-month bridge that shows the macroeconomic factor. But with -- sometimes that 12-month bridge can not move as much on a quarter-to-quarter basis. So when we think about the moderation that we saw sequentially, can you talk about the drivers that you think are leading to that?

Yes. Thanks for the question, Matt. I think when you step back and look at it, you're right, the 12-month doesn't move quite as quickly. I think what you're seeing in the marketplace -- and look, our consumer is still under pressure. Again, they don't need improvement. They just need consistency. And we've seen a bit of consistency around gas prices, inflation, things of that nature, and we'll see how that continues through the year.

And I think we're starting to see some of the -- and I talked about it in my remarks, some of the stepped-up enforcement in e-vapor, it puts consumers back at play -- we would love to be able to keep them in the smokeless category, but when enforcement happens, it certainly puts them at play and they consider other nicotine categories.

And we'll take our next question from Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs.

All right. I guess I have a question first on the nicotine pouch category. The competitive environment has really intensified. So could you touch on what you're seeing and whether I guess you've been happy with the performance and positioning of on! considering the moderating growth. And then could you talk about some of your initiatives that you're implementing, I guess, to maybe turn the performance around. I guess I'm kind of wondering, do you feel that you need to step up promotional spend.

And then finally, could you maybe share early feedback on the rollout of On! PLUS and I guess, assuming it's positive, should we assume you'll roll out that brand nationally.

Yes, thanks for the question, Bonnie. You're right. The competitive environment significantly stuff. I mean we try to dimensionalize it. On was moving up, call it, 1.5% at retail from a price perspective. while the entire category was down 7% on a national basis, but as much as 70% in a major retail.

So it was a significant shift in promotional spending by competitors. We had that early on with the On in the marketplace when we launched, and we've talked about how we're bringing the revenue growth management tools over to the category. So we're extremely pleased with the performance where we were moving up in retail price and the category was moving down significantly.

I know people get hung up on some of the shipment volume. I think the encouraging aspect that we see is on the retail takeaway volume. And when you look at that, that's the true demand by the consumer, and that was steady even in that highly competitive environment. Much too early on On! PLUS n to really mention we are certainly excited about the differentiation that product has and research, and we're excited to be able to bring that to market and expand it when it's appropriate.

All right. And then I just wanted to also ask about your KT&G partnership, it was recently expanded and you touched on this, but just hoping for a little more color on the operational efficiencies you see, especially as it relates to opportunities to maybe take advantage of the double duty drawback.

Also, could you give us a little more color on I guess, opportunities for alternative revenue streams as well as further expansion internationally given this partnership?

Yes. Thanks, Bonnie. And you touched on 2 of the 3. We really see it as 3-pronged. Certainly, the moderate oral initiative, being able to expand on and On! PLUS in international markets is something that we'll be exploring. Rounding out our portfolio with the inclusion of loop into that, so we feel like that completes the portfolio, and we look forward to continuing discussions with them on how to think about expanding internationally into other markets.

The second point is certainly the non-nicotine opportunities. And I tried to highlight a little bit where we would explore working with them. They have certainly the product expertise in the Korean red ginseng and we would look to work with them based on our commercial distribution strength in the U.S. of what are the opportunities there and certainly, we'll share more when it's appropriate.

And the third was the operational efficiencies. And what we saw there was it was the ability to adapt our manufacturing center for cigarettes for items that are specific to international markets, whether that be pack size or trace and tracking and things of that nature. It certainly, to your point, allows us to take advantage of due to drawback. That's a benefit of it.

But it also opens up the door for us to think about international opportunities in the future.

[Operator Instructions]. We'll go next to Eric Serotta with Morgan Stanley.

Billy, starting on us, I realize it's the very early days, but you did mention it as premium positioning. Could you talk a bit about the price point as you launch in the 3 states where you did a [indiscernible] only a matter of weeks or less. But how are you thinking about the relative price point of on relative to On! PLUS and relative to competitors, which I realize are moving target at the moment.

And then Sal, controllable costs and smokables were up pretty significantly year-on-year, realize they were down in a year ago. So there was perhaps a comparison issue. But how are you thinking about controllable costs going forward? Or is there any additional color you could talk about in the quarter? And the smokeable OCI growth was relatively muted at less than 1%. Was that really the controllable cost, or are there other factors that you'd point to that constrain the OCI growth in the quarter?

Yes. Thanks, Eric. So I'll kick off and then Sal can follow up with the question for him. I think when you think about on! PLUS, we certainly see that as a premium-priced product because of the differentiation and the satisfaction we think it brings in the experience to the consumer. In our research, the consumers choose that as the top product in there from a total experience standpoint, and we think it can demand the premium price at retail.

Certainly, in any introduction, you have introductory price promotions. We know as soon as we get it in consumers' hands, they experience that differentiation that I'm trying to highlight to you. And so we'll certainly have introductory price promotions as we look to expand when appropriate.

As far as controllable costs go, I guess I'd start by saying that I would not look at controllable costs quarter-by-quarter. I think -- I really believe you need to look at the cost over the long term exactly for the reasons you highlighted in the question. There are some comparison issues.

Costs are not linear. There's timing within a quarter. So you touched on that in the question. I think you are right to point that out. As far as controllable costs going forward, I'm going to be careful not to kind of lean into future guidance and things like that. But I would tell you how we think about costs. Obviously, in a declining category like smokeable and cigarettes in particular, cost management is an important part of the growth algorithm along with pricing. We do manage our overall costs.

Obviously, we've shared with you the Optimize and Accelerate program that, that program is not just about effective cost management and cost reductions. It's also about better performance and speed to market. And we are taking those cost savings and reinvesting that in our future.

I'll also share that we spend a lot of time continuing to hone our data analytics in our revenue growth management tools, and that has been extremely helpful. And while it manifests itself as price realization in the P&L, I look at that as productivity because we are better able to use promotional investments to support our brands and PM USA and data analytics team continue to do a terrific job of using data analytics and those RGM tools extremely effectively. So we're very happy about that.

And then OCI for smokeable, I really would look at that over a longer term, again, not a particular quarter smokable is up 2.5% on a year-to-date basis. Very pleased with its performance, especially when you see the strength of Marlboro within the premium segment.

We'll go next to Faham BaigFaham Beg with UBS.

A couple from me as well. Firstly, if I could come back on the duty drawbacks. If we take a bigger look at the at the picture. Altria is likely to make around $3 million in federal excise tax payments this year. Should this be the amount that we think about the potential benefit from the duty drawbacks. And is this likely to be the sort of key engine that drives group EPS growth to high single digits over the next couple of years to meet the mid-single-digit EPS CAGR to 2028. So that's the first question.

The second one, going back to the pilot program that the FDA is running. Does this -- or could this impact your decision to go ahead with the national launch on on! PLUS, i.e., you may wait for the decision on this? Or or you may take a decision irrespective of the program?

And the second one on that is why do you think it's possible for the FDA to accelerate this process on nicotine pouches, but it's not possible to do so in vapor, which is arguably a much larger category and reviews there began much earlier.

Yes. So quite a few things in that question. So if I don't touch on one, please follow up. I think when you think about the duty drawback, I wouldn't jump to a conclusion at this point in time. It's really about a relationship with international players. How do we think about producing cigarettes for international, some of the other benefits that we get certainly drawback is an additional benefit to that.

When you think about the pilot program, I want to be clear that we want a functioning regulatory system. So we're going to always make our decisions based on what's the long-term best interest of the company with an eye towards what is best to get a functioning regulatory system. I think your question related to pouches versus vapor, I think from comments from them, but just the interpretation of it being called a pilot program, they wanted to start where it made sense to start, and that's in nicotine pouch.

It's a fairly set category, even though we've seen some players maybe enter the marketplace illicitly. It gives them a way to thinking about the category in total and then differentiated products and what's different between individual products in the marketplace, which should speed up their review of that.

I think when you think about vapor, the marketplace is a mess right now. And so I think the nature of a pallet program is to learn. They will learn manufacturers, including us, will learn -- it's been a very collaborative process with constant engagement through the application review process, which is very different and very encouraging from the FDA we experienced under the previous administration.

So I think once you have those learnings, we would hope and encourage the FDA to expand it to other categories.

I guess just a quick follow-up. Could you clarify that the EPS growth is suggested to accelerate to high single digits over the next couple of years in order to meet your mid-single-digit EPS CAGR. Is that still the ambition?

Our ambition is the goal. We haven't changed our goals from an overall CAGR that we stated previously. And that's been our stated goal. So yes, that's the way I would think about how we're going to manage the business going forward.

There appears to be no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mac Livingston for any closing remarks.

Thanks, everybody, for joining us today, and have a great day.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.