Altria Group Inc. (MO) is one of the leading manufacturers of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products in the U.S.

Altria has seen soft volume trends for the past few quarters, due to a general shift away from tobacco products amid accelerating prices of cigarettes and worldwide anti-tobacco campaigns. The company is thus putting greater focus on the growing electronic cigarettes to boost sales. Altria has been expanding its Mark e-cigarettes nationwide after its successful launch in Indiana in Aug 2013, which has been affecting sales positively.

Investors should also note that earnings estimate for MO has been revised downward during the last 30 days. MO does have a decent history when it comes to recent earnings reports as the stock has posted a positive surprise in one quarter, negative for one and in-line results for the remaining two quarters, with an average surprise of a negative 0.01%.

Currently, MO has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but that could definitely change following Altria’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings: MO beats on earnings. Our consensus earnings estimate called for EPS of $0.62/share, and the company reported EPS of $0.63 instead. Investors should note that these figures take out stock option expenses.

Revenues: MO reported revenues of $4.3 billion. This surpassed our consensus estimate of $4.2 billion.

Key Stats/Dev to Note: Shipment volume in Smokeable products increased 1.6% to 29.5 million units. The company maintains its fiscal 2015 view.

Stock Price: Inactive in pre-market trading

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