Philip Morris's Stock Drops After Sales Miss, Downbeat Profit Outlook

Philip Morris International Inc.'s stock slumped 3.1% in premarket trade Thursday, after the cigarette seller missed fourth-quarter revenue expectations and provided a downbeat profit outlook for 2016. Earnings for the latest quarter fell to $1.25 billion, or 80 cents a share, from $1.61 billion, or $1.03 a share, a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 81 cents, matching the FactSet consensus of 81 cents. Revenue fell 11% to $6.39 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $6.52 billion, with revenue declining in every geographic region. Cigarette shipment volume declined 2.4% to 209.8 billion units. For 2016, EPS is expected to be $4.25 to $4.35 at prevailing currency rates. The FactSet EPS consensus was $4.52. The stock has gained 2% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has lost 9%.