Altria

In the first half of 2026 Altria handed shareholders nearly 3.9 billion dollars through dividends and stock buybacks, including 3.6 billion in dividends alone. The stock pays close to a 6 percent yield, and the company still has 665 million dollars left to spend on buying back its own shares before the end of the year.

Even though Americans are smoking less, Altria keeps squeezing out more profit by raising prices. Cigarette shipments fell again last quarter, yet adjusted profit in that business rose 2.4 percent and profit margins there hit 64.8 percent. Net margins for the whole company sit near 40 percent, higher than most software companies.

Revenue is barely moving. Second quarter sales came in at 6.1 billion dollars, essentially flat versus a year ago, and revenue over the past year actually shrank about 1.5 percent. Reported earnings per share fell 2.8 percent to 1 dollar and 37 cents, hurt by legal charges and factory consolidation costs. This is a slow grower, not a rocket ship.

Altria's smoke free bet is still catching up. Oral tobacco sales fell last quarter, and the new on! PLUS pouches only just reached 120,000 stores with a national rollout coming later this year. Meanwhile the company raised its spending plans to as much as 450 million dollars this year, and regulators could always tighten the rules on nicotine.