After missing earnings estimates five straight times, Philip Morris International Inc. PMdelivered a beat in first-quarter 2017. Moreover, top and bottom lines grew year over year and management also raised its bottom-line view for 2018, courtesy of the tax reforms. However, these factors were not enough to placate investors, who were let down by the fifth consecutive sales miss and drop in constant currency (cc) earnings.
This could be largely accountable to soft volumes.Evidently, shares of the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company are down about 5% in the pre-market trading session. In fact, Philip Morris’ shares have gone down 6.2% in the past six months, wider than the industry’s decline of 4.8%. This can primarily be attributable to the company’s dismal past record.