A worked DCF of Altria

Built from the company's annual filing for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025, with market inputs as of 15 September 2026. Every figure below carries a tag saying where it came from, and every result is computed by the same engine as the VALUATIO terminal. A worked example of the method, not a view on the stock.

Open this model in the terminalFree account. Change any input and every figure moves with it.

What went in

Every input the model uses is here. The tag beside each one says where it came from, so you can tell a number Altria filed from one this page assumed.

Filed by Altria Group, Inc., CIK 0000764180, for the year ended 31 December 2025. Check any SEC figure against the filing on SEC EDGAR.

Inputs to the Altria valuation, with their sources
The business
Revenue, filed year$23,279mSEC
Revenue growth, years one to five(3.1%), (1.6%), 0.0%, 1.5%, 3.0%EST
EBITDA margin43.7%SEC
Depreciation and amortisation, share of revenue1.1%SEC
Capital spending, share of revenue0.9%SEC
Working capital, share of the change in revenue10.0%DEF
Tax rate26.0%SEC
The discount rate
Risk-free rate4.97%UST
Equity risk premium5.00%DEF
Beta0.18CALC
Pre-tax cost of debt5.71%IDX
Debt share of the capital structure25%DEF
Terminal growth2.25%DEF
The balance sheet
Borrowings$25,709mSEC
Cash$4,474mSEC
Net debt$21,235mSEC
Shares outstanding1,669.7mSEC
SEC
Reported in the annual filing
EST
Estimated: a projection, not a reported figure
UST
10-year US Treasury yield, published daily by the Treasury
IDX
ICE BofA corporate bond index yield, published daily via FRED
CALC
Computed from five years of weekly returns against SPY
DEF
House default: a documented assumption, not data

Five years of free cash flow

Revenue grows along the path above; margins, capital spending and tax stay at the filed year's proportions. Free cash flow is what is left for every provider of capital, and each year is discounted back at the WACC below, from the middle of the year, because cash arrives through it rather than on the last day.

Projected free cash flow for Altria, years one to five, in $ millions
$ millionsYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5
Revenue$22,557$22,196$22,196$22,529$23,205
EBITDA$9,858$9,700$9,700$9,845$10,141
Less depreciation and amortisation($248)($244)($244)($248)($255)
EBIT$9,609$9,456$9,456$9,598$9,885
Less tax on EBIT($2,498)($2,458)($2,458)($2,495)($2,570)
Plus depreciation and amortisation$248$244$244$248$255
Less capital spending($203)($200)($200)($203)($209)
Less increase in working capital$72$36$0($33)($68)
Free cash flow$7,228$7,078$7,042$7,114$7,294
Discount factor0.9740.9230.8760.8300.787
Present value$7,039$6,535$6,165$5,906$5,742

The discount rate

The weighted average cost of capital blends what shareholders and lenders expect to earn, weighted by how much of the company each finances.

Cost of equity: 4.97% + 0.18 × 5.00%5.87%
After-tax cost of debt: 5.71% × (1 − 26.0%)4.23%
WACC: 75% equity, 25% debt5.46%

From cash flow to one value per share

After year five the model assumes free cash flow grows at 2.25% a year for ever: the Gordon growth terminal value, which is year-five free cash flow of $7,294m grown one year, divided by WACC less growth.

Present value of five years of free cash flow$31,388m
Terminal value at the end of year five$232,425m
Present value of the terminal value$182,982m
Enterprise value$214,370m
Less net debt($21,235)m
Equity value$193,135m
Divided by shares outstanding1,669.7m
Value per share$115.67

The terminal value is 85% of enterprise value, so most of this answer rests on the years after the forecast. That is normal for a DCF, and it is why the next table matters.

How much the answer depends on two inputs

Value per share across a range of discount rates and terminal growth rates. The centre is the model above. Move the discount rate one point either way and the value runs from $85.74 to $172.70 a share: small inputs, large answers.

Altria value per share by WACC (rows) and terminal growth (columns)
WACC by growth1.75%2.00%2.25%2.50%2.75%
4.46%$141.36$155.43$172.70$194.36$222.37
4.96%$117.71$127.42$138.92$152.76$169.74
5.46%$100.43$107.50$115.67$125.22$136.53
5.96%$87.26$92.61$98.69$105.64$113.68
6.46%$76.89$81.07$85.74$91.00$96.98

What this model does not know

  • The growth path is an estimate, not anyone's forecast: it starts at last year's revenue growth, (3.1%), and tapers to 3% by year five.
  • The equity risk premium, the debt share of the capital structure, working capital and terminal growth are house defaults, the same documented assumptions the terminal starts from. They are tagged DEF above.
  • Capital spending stays at 0.9% of revenue for all five years. A company in a heavy investment cycle looks worth less here than it will if that spending falls.
  • Net debt is borrowings less cash, as filed. Operating leases are left out.
  • No share price appears on this page, on purpose. It teaches how a DCF is built; it does not say whether the stock is cheap or dear.

Now change it

The terminal opens this exact model with Altria's filing already loaded. Change the growth path, the margin or the discount rate, and every figure on this page moves with it. Market inputs there are live, so they may have moved since 15 September 2026.

Open this model in the terminal

Learn the method behind each step: Discounted cash flow, Free cash flow, Weighted average cost of capital and Terminal value.

All worked valuations