How to profit as tobacco stocks go up in smoke

Philip Morris International is the most vulnerable stock in the embattled tobacco sector. Matthew Partridge explains the best way to play it.

Smoking may not boost your portfolio for much longer
(Image credit: Credit: Robert Gilhooly / Alamy Stock Photo)

Tobacco is bad for your health, but it has been good for investors’ portfolios. For decades, companies have been able to offset the gradual decline of smoking in Europe and North America with rising sales in emerging markets and price hikes in developed markets. The advent of e-cigarettes, meanwhile, has provided a new revenue stream and fuelled optimism over the future for cigarette companies after tobacco use dies out.

The final straw?

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri