Philip Morris International (PM): A Bull Case Theory

We came across a bullish thesis on Philip Morris International on WorldlyInvest's Substack. As of 2ⁿᵈ July, Philip Morris International's share was trading at $175.91. PM's trailing and forward P/E were 27.70 and 24.43 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

Russo views Philip Morris International (PM) as one of the most remarkable examples in the author's portfolio of a company with the capacity to reinvest and transform itself. Over the past 14 years, PM has invested aggressively into developing Reduced Risk Products (RRPs) like IQOS, VEEV ONE, and ZYN. IQOS, its flagship heat-not-burn product, is now a major success in Japan and expanding in Western Europe.

The regulatory backdrop is improving, with ZYN recently gaining FDA recognition as reduced-risk. PM's deep investments are creating network effects in its RRPs ecosystem, where scale, retail presence, and consumer loyalty drive competitive advantage. Russo sees PM as having built a durable path to grow nicotine market share in safer formats — aligning both with societal trends and future revenue/profit growth.

PM's capacity to suffer — making $14B+ in RRP investments ahead of peers — positions it as the clear leader in the industry's future. The company's investments in innovation and renovation of their product lineup, underwritten cumulative smoke-free product investments of $14 billion, growing sharply from a smaller base of $2.4 billion in 2015, make it an attractive investment.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on Philip Morris International by Librarian Capital in June 2025, which highlighted the company's potential as a backdoor play on the AI energy boom through its nuclear energy infrastructure assets. The stock has depreciated by 1.90% since then. This previous thesis emphasized PM's critical energy infrastructure and potential to profit from the AI energy spike, but it didn't play out as AI focus shifted. WorldlyInvest's current thesis shares a similar view on PM's growth potential, but emphasizes its successful transformation through investments in Reduced Risk Products like IQOS and ZYN, positioning it for future revenue growth.

PM isn't on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of PM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.