Philip Morris International Inc PM

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
76/100
Strong

About Philip Morris International Inc

Philip Morris International Inc. operates as a tobacco company. The company offers cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, e-vapor, and oral nicotine products under the IQOS, VEEV, and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. It also offers wellness products. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Full PM analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.91), suggesting sticky customer base.
  • Cash Generation Consistent Cash generation is consistent (score 0.98), indicating reliable business model.

Key risks

  • Volatile Margins Suggest Cyclicality Margin volatility is high (stability score 0.31), suggesting cyclical exposure or competitive pressure.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
69

Where PM ranks in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services

Philip Morris International Inc ranks #21 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services by moat score — the top 8%. The widest moat in the group is Brown Forman Inc (BF-A) at 93/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near PM in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services
# Company Moat score Rating
17 Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. CALM 77/100 Strong
18 Interparfums, Inc. IPAR 77/100 Strong
19 Seneca Foods Corp. SENEA 76/100 Strong
20 Seneca Foods Corp. SENEB 76/100 Strong
21 Philip Morris International Inc PM 76/100 Strong
22 Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. FDP 76/100 Strong
23 National Beverage Corp. FIZZ 76/100 Strong
24 Altria Group, Inc. MO 75/100 Strong
25 G. Willi-Food International, L WILC 75/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How PM scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 69 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 73 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 95 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 75 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 56 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 92 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding PM's moat

What is Philip Morris International Inc's moat score?

Philip Morris International Inc (PM) scores 76 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #21 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services, the top 8%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 264 companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (95/100) and its weakest is Resilience (56/100).

How does Philip Morris International Inc compare with other Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services companies?

Philip Morris International Inc ranks #21 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services by moat score. The widest moat in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services is Brown Forman Inc (BF-A) at 93/100. The companies ranked closest are Seneca Foods Corp. (SENEB) at 76 just above it and Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (FDP) at 76 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 264 companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Philip Morris International Inc scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Philip Morris International Inc?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and PM scores: Pricing Power (69), Cost Advantage (73), Customer Stickiness (95), Capital Efficiency (75), Resilience (56), Scale & Market Position (92). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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