Tobacco stocks are fashionable again, but investors’ taste for nicotine may not last.
In this year’s rocky markets, the U.S.-listed shares of cigarette producers
and
have risen 14% and 6%, respectively, making tobacco the fourth biggest gainer among the S&P 500 index’s more than 60 subsectors. London-listed Lucky Strike owner
has fared even better, up more than a fifth.
It is a pleasant change for the industry, whose stocks have underperformed since late 2017 because of worries about stricter government tobacco controls and investors’ screening out cigarette companies for ethical reasons….
