Barclays released its weekly overview of U.S. tobacco category performance for the four weeks ended April 18, documenting a continued contraction in cigarette volumes and divergent trends among alternative nicotine products.
On the cigarette front, the report shows a 4.3% year-over-year decline based on MSA measures and a 5.5% decline according to Nielsen data. Year-to-date cigarette volumes were down 5.1%, which contrasted with Barclays' own prior estimate of a 7.3% decrease. The two-year volume stack, per MSA data, stands at negative 13%.
Within the fast-growing nicotine pouch segment, ZYN retail sales were roughly $260 million for the four-week period, an increase of 4% year-over-year. ZYN's pricing fell 1% year-over-year, while competing pouch brands showed stronger price gains - on! pricing rose 17%, Velo pricing climbed 20%, and Rogue recorded a 7% increase. Volume for ZYN was steady month-over-month and was up 5% year-over-year.
Overall, nicotine pouches exhibited 22% value growth and 22% volume growth year-over-year. Sequentially, Velo volumes increased 5.7% and the brand held a 25% volume share of the pouch category. Imperial Brands' nicotine pouch brand Zone achieved a 3% volume share and a 2% value share during the period.
The e-cigarette space showed mixed results by brand and format. Vuse posted a 10% year-over-year increase in sales and commanded a 41.3% value market share, versus JUUL at 19.7% value share. Altria's e-cigarette sales fell sharply, down 61% year-over-year, representing a 1.7% value share for the company. Overall, e-cigarette sales declined 17% year-over-year.
Format-level movement within e-cigarettes varied: closed-tank e-cigarette refill sales fell 5.8% year-over-year, while disposable e-cigarette sales dropped 34.7% year-over-year. Barclays noted that the e-cigarette data set does not capture all channels.
Turning back to combustible cigarettes by company, Nielsen data for the four weeks ending April 18 showed Altria volumes declined 4.7% year-over-year, British American Tobacco fell 9.3%, and Imperial Brands decreased 9%. Barclays observed that Altria continues to gain share this year despite the overall volume declines.
In other combustible categories, Backwoods sales fell 8% year-over-year in the last four weeks, and the broader cigar industry saw a 2% year-over-year decline.
Contextual note: All figures above are drawn from Barclays' weekly U.S. tobacco market data covering the four-week period ending April 18 and from the cited MSA and Nielsen measures included in that release.