The recent economic recession affected all industrial sectors, causing many businesses to suffer from lost revenues, shrinking budgets, declining market shares, increased debt liabilities and a narrowing competitive moat. However, the same recession that has become the thorn in the side of many leading businesses has surprisingly provided the controversial global tobacco industry with the impetus for higher growth and increased revenue, allowing leading businesses to hit new highs in the last financial fiscal and causing an exponential rise in share prices.

In this article, the subject of my discussion and financial analysis is Altria (MO), one of the world’s largest tobacco corporations. I have chosen this company for its impressive performance in the last fiscal quarter of 2011. Furthermore, Altria has also performed exceptionally well overall in the previous fiscal year, reporting sizable revenues, significant growth, increased market share, and higher cash flows, even in the midst of predominantly unfavorable market conditions.

Altria is an enormous business that caters to an ever-growing global market. The company has a massive market capitalization of nearly $62 billion and average trading volume of the stock exceeds $11 million. In terms of overall market capitalization, Altria comfortably dwarfs two of its major competitors – Reynolds American (RAI) at $24.5 billion and $2.5 million or Lorrilard (LO) at $17 billion and $1.5 million.Looking at the company’s financial performance, and reviewing key financial indicators for the last three fiscal quarters, we can see why Altria has appealed to countless investors as a viable investment option. To continue reading, click here.