Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Altria Group, Inc. (MO) Halal?

FAIL

Altria Group, Inc. · NYSE: MO · Consumer Staples

The short answer

No — Altria Group (MO) fails this Shariah stock screen at the business-activity gate. The Richmond, Virginia company is a pure tobacco and nicotine manufacturer: Marlboro cigarettes (via PM USA), Black & Mild cigars, Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco, on! nicotine pouches, and NJOY e-vapor. About 100% of its FY2025 net revenues ($23,279M) come from tobacco/nicotine segments — smokeable products $20,485M plus oral tobacco products $2,802M plus e-vapor ($13)M — far above the 5% tolerance for non-compliant income. The financial ratios are reported below for the record: total debt of $24,577M at June 30, 2026 is 21.48% of its ~$114.4B market cap (Finnhub, October 2026), under the ~33% ceiling, and FY2025 interest income of $98M is 0.42% of revenue ($23,279M), under the 5% ceiling — but no ratio can cure a prohibited core business. Zoya rates MO not Shariah-compliant; no Musaffa or ShariaPortfolio coverage was found. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling — consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

Gate 1 — Business activity: FAIL

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO), headquartered at 6601 West Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, describes itself in its FY2025 Form 10-K (filed February 2026) as holding "a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco consumers age 21+." Its operating companies are PM USA (cigarettes — Marlboro, the principal brand and the largest-selling cigarette brand in the United States for over 50 years; 61.8 billion cigarette units shipped in 2025), John Middleton Co. (machine-made large cigars — Black & Mild; 1.8 billion cigars shipped in 2025), U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (moist smokeless tobacco — Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal), Helix (on! oral nicotine pouches), and NJOY (e-vapor products). The 10-K's reportable segments are smokeable products, oral tobacco products and e-vapor products; "substantially all" revenue is domestic. FY2025 segment net revenues: smokeable products $20,485M + oral tobacco products $2,802M + e-vapor products ($13)M = $23,274M of $23,279M total net revenues — ~100% from tobacco/nicotine; the $5M "all other" category covers R&D on new nicotine platforms. Altria also holds equity investments in Anheuser-Busch InBev (alcohol) and Cronos Group (cannabis). Business-screen implication (factual): tobacco is categorically excluded from Shariah-compliant investing — the Fiqh Council of North America lists tobacco among impermissible industries, and this site's screen failed Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) on the same gate. Gate 1 fails. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: for the record

The business gate is decisive, but the balance sheet is reported for the record. Per Altria's Q2 2026 earnings release (announced July 30, 2026), the condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2026 shows current portion of long-term debt $1,684M and long-term debt $22,893M, for company-reported total debt of $24,577M (down from $25,709M at December 31, 2025). Against a market cap of about $114.4B (Finnhub, October 2026), total debt ÷ market cap is 21.48% — below the ~33% ceiling, so the debt gate would pass financially. Cash and cash equivalents of $2,367M are about 2.07% of market cap, also below 33%. Note the company carries a stockholders' deficit (negative book equity of $(2,668)M at June 30, 2026) due to accumulated dividends and buybacks, which is why the market-cap-based ratio is used. The debt gate passes financially, but the screen fails at Gate 1 regardless. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: for the record

Roughly 100% of Altria's FY2025 net revenues ($23,279M) come from tobacco and nicotine products — the impermissible-activity share dwarfs the 5% non-compliant income ceiling, which is the substance of the Gate 1 fail. On the narrower interest metric: Altria's FY2025 Form 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2025; filed February 2026) reports interest expense of $1,177M and interest income of $98M (interest and other debt expense, net $1,079M). $98M ÷ $23,279M is 0.42% of FY2025 net revenues — below the 5% ceiling. Zoya's MO page cites this same $98M figure, computing 0.49% against its $20,139M revenue-net-of-excise-taxes total (Altria's Schedule 13: $23,279M net revenues minus $3,140M excise taxes). The interest ratio would pass, but it is moot for a tobacco manufacturer — Gate 1 fails. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Altria Group do?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO), headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a U.S. tobacco and nicotine company. Its operating companies are PM USA (cigarettes, led by Marlboro — the largest-selling U.S. cigarette brand for over 50 years), John Middleton Co. (machine-made large cigars, led by Black & Mild), U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (moist smokeless tobacco, led by Copenhagen and Skoal), Helix (on! oral nicotine pouches), and NJOY (e-vapor products). Altria also holds investments in Anheuser-Busch InBev (alcohol) and Cronos Group (cannabis). FY2025 net revenues were $23,279M — smokeable products $20,485M, oral tobacco products $2,802M, e-vapor products ($13)M, all other $5M — essentially all from tobacco and nicotine products.

Why does MO fail this Shariah stock screen?

MO fails at the first gate — the business-activity gate. It is a tobacco and nicotine manufacturer: cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches and e-vapor are its entire business — about 100% of FY2025 net revenues ($23,279M) come from tobacco/nicotine segments, far above the 5% tolerance for non-compliant income. Tobacco is categorically excluded from Shariah-compliant investing — the Fiqh Council of North America lists tobacco among impermissible industries, and Zoya rates MO not Shariah-compliant. No ratio analysis can cure a prohibited core business; Gates 2 and 3 are reported below for the record only. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling — consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is MO's interest-bearing debt ratio?

For the record (the business gate is decisive): Altria's Q2 2026 earnings release (announced July 30, 2026) reports total debt of $24,577M at June 30, 2026 — current portion of long-term debt $1,684M plus long-term debt $22,893M. Against a market cap of about $114.4B (Finnhub, October 2026), total debt ÷ market cap is about 21.48% — below the ~33% ceiling, so the debt gate would pass financially. Cash and cash equivalents of $2,367M are about 2.07% of market cap. But the screen fails at Gate 1 on business activities regardless.

What is MO's non-compliant income ratio?

For the record: roughly 100% of Altria's FY2025 net revenues ($23,279M) come from tobacco and nicotine products — the impermissible-activity share dwarfs the 5% non-compliant income ceiling, which is exactly why the screen fails. On the narrower interest metric, Altria's FY2025 10-K (filed February 2026) reports interest income of $98M against interest expense of $1,177M (interest and other debt expense, net $1,079M) — $98M is 0.42% of FY2025 net revenues ($23,279M), below 5%, and Zoya cites the same $98M figure (0.49% of its $20,139M revenue-net-of-excise-taxes total). The interest ratio is moot for a tobacco manufacturer — Gate 1 fails.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover MO?

Zoya covers MO (zoya.finance/stocks/mo): its page states "MO is not Shariah-compliant and therefore not considered halal to invest in" and cites FY2025 interest income of $98M (0.49% of $20,139M revenue net of excise taxes) — the same $98M disclosed in Altria's 10-K. Zoya's page also renders contradictory auto-generated template fragments (simultaneously saying MO has and has not reported interest income), so the prose is reported as found, with the rating signal and figures quoted directly. Musaffa: no MO page was found via public search — no coverage found. ShariaPortfolio: no MO entry found. All honestly reported as found, not invented. This page applies the screen directly from Altria's own filings.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-01 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).