ITC’s cigarette sales slump 22% as tax-led pricing hits volumes; FMCG grows 15%
ITC shares rose nearly 3% after Nomura upgraded the stock to Buy, calling its cigarette pricing calibrated. Q1 FY27 cigarette revenue fell 22% year-on-year and volumes declined in high single digits, while FMCG sales grew 15%. Motilal Oswal remains Neutral, flagging continued tax-driven earnings volatility.
ITC’s Q1 FY27 cigarette revenue fell 22% as tax-led price increases hurt volumes, while FMCG sales rose 15%. Nomura upgraded the company to Buy, citing calibrated pricing and product launches; Motilal Oswal retained Neutral over continued cigarette earnings volatility.
Why this matters
The result follows signals that ITC and peers faced a first full quarter of tax-hike volume and profit declines, after earlier tax-led cigarette revenue gains masked weaker volumes.
Retail-company signals are accelerating, up 224,433% QoQ.