Had You Invested $1,000 in Altria or Philip Morris 10 Years Ago, Here’s What You’d Have Now

1 day ago 3

Trey Thoelcke

Thu, March 19, 2026 astatine 9:30 AM CDT 4 min read

Altria (MO) gained 105% connected terms unsocial implicit a decennary but trails the S&P 500’s 224% return, portion Philip Morris (PM) roseate 179% connected price; dividend reinvestment implicit 10 years importantly closed the spread for both, with Altria’s quarterly dividend astir doubling from $0.565 to $1.06 and PM’s rising from $1.02 to $1.47. PM trades astatine 20x guardant P/E with expert upside to $194.84 portion Altria offers a 6.5% output astatine 12x guardant P/E amid home cigaret declines.
Both companies offset structural cigaret measurement declines done pricing powerfulness and smoke-free merchandise expansion, with Philip Morris scaling IQOS globally and acquiring Swedish Match portion Altria focused connected the U.S. marketplace with Marlboro and nicotine pouches, making them income-focused investments wherever dividend compounding matters much than terms appreciation.
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A decennary ago, Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) faced the aforesaid existential question: what happens to a baccy institution erstwhile less radical smoke? Their answers diverged sharply.

Altria stayed focused connected the U.S. market, leaning connected Marlboro's pricing powerfulness portion gathering a smoke-free portfolio done NJOY, the on! nicotine pouch brand, and a heated baccy associated venture. Philip Morris went planetary and moved aggressively into smoke-free products, acquiring Swedish Match (home of ZYN nicotine pouches) and scaling IQOS crossed planetary markets. Both faced structural cigaret measurement declines but offset them done pricing, caller categories, and dividend growth.

For semipermanent investors, the communicative isn't truly astir stock price. It's astir income compounding softly for a decade.

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Altria — Price Return Only

Initial Investment: $1,000
Current Value (price only): $2,051 (+105.06%)
S&P 500 (same period): $3,236 (+223.63%)

Philip Morris — Price Return Only

Initial Investment: $1,000
Current Value (price only): $2,792 (+179.24%)
S&P 500 (same period): $3,236 (+223.63%)

On terms alone, some stocks trailed the S&P 500 implicit 10 years. But these are among the astir dividend-intensive stocks successful the market, and stripping retired income misrepresents what investors really earned. Dividends substantially alteration the concern result for some stocks implicit this horizon. Altria's quarterly dividend grew from astir $0.565 per 4th successful aboriginal 2016 to $1.06 today, astir doubling. Philip Morris went from $1.02 per 4th successful aboriginal 2016 to $1.47 by precocious 2025. Reinvesting those payments implicit 10 years adds important worth that the terms illustration does not show.

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