Altria: 1Q Earnings Snapshot

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Altria Group (MO) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $1.55 billion.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company said it had profit of 83 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and non-recurring costs, were $1.09 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 97 cents per share.

The owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker posted revenue of $6.36 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $5.05 billion, also beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.62 billion.

Altria shares have declined 18% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen 9%. The stock has declined 23% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MO