Why did MO's Q4 2024 EPS slightly beat forecasts?

Altria Group's (MO) Q4 2024 EPS slightly beat forecasts due to several key factors:

1. **Strong Performance in Oral Tobacco Products**: The oral tobacco products segment, particularly the MST brands, continued to drive profitability. This segment showed significant growth, with NJOY's consumables shipment volume rising over 15%. This growth offset some of the challenges in the smokeable products segment.
2. **Smokeable Products Segment Resilience**: Despite a decline in domestic cigarette volumes, the smokeable products segment delivered solid operating income growth, thanks to resilience from Marlboro and significant net price realization. This resilience was a result of robust pricing and the company's focus on "Moving Beyond Smoking".
3. **Strategic Initiatives**: Altria's continued investments in pursuing its Vision, including a new Optimize & Accelerate initiative, are expected to accelerate progress and improve efficiency. These strategic moves likely contributed to the company's financial performance.
4. **Market Conditions and Consumer Behavior**: The company faced challenges from the illicit tobacco market and regulatory environment. However, Altria's diversified portfolio and strategic focus on alternative tobacco products, such as NJOY, helped it navigate these challenges.

In summary, Altria's Q4 2024 EPS beat forecasts due to strong performance in oral tobacco products, resilience in the smokeable products segment, strategic initiatives, and effective management of market conditions.