Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. PM climbed 2.0% in premarket trading Thursday, after the cigarette and heated tobacco seller reported fourth-quarter profit that missed expectations but sales that rose well above forecasts. Net income rose to $2.40 billion, or $1.54 a share, from $2.09 billion, or $1.34 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $1.23 was below the FactSet consensus of $1.26. Revenue rose 0.6% to $8.15 billion, well above the FactSet consensus of $7.50 billion. Total shipment volume grew 1.2% to 186.05 billion units, with cigarettes shipments down 2.8% to 154.03 billion units and heated tobacco up 26.1% to 32.02 billion units. “We are well on our way to becoming a majority smoke-free company, with smoke-free products accounting for almost one-third of our total net revenues for the year,” said Chief Executive Jacek Olczak. The stock has advanced 11.3% over the past three months through Wednesday while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 9.9%.
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