Following Altria (MO) releasing their first quarter results last week, it's time to once again analyze their cigarette volumes. Despite their brother Philip Morris (PM) reporting surprisingly solid cigarette volumes, unfortunately this didn't extend to Altria with their year on year decline sitting at a large 14.27%.

Even though Altria's financial performance will ultimately drive their shareholder returns, if their cigarette volume declines don't stabilize it'll cast doubt over their ability to continue growing and possibly even maintaining their earnings. Whilst a year on year decline is normal, a result of 14.27% is abnormally large and one of the steepest declines in over twenty years. Although they have various other investments, such as Juul (JUUL), their cigarette business will remain at the core of their earnings for the foreseeable future.

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