Big tobacco: Smoking is still a truly enormous industry... and it's still growing?

6/8/21 7:00PM

Big Tobacco is still... big tobacco. This week British American Tobacco reported its latest financial results, painting a rosy picture for investors with a forecast to grow its revenue by 5% this year.

‍Wait... tobacco is still growing?

‍The cigarette industry may feel a bit like its been close to being extinguished ever since the health concerns about smoking became common knowledge in the 1960s — but somehow the industry has survived, and even thrived.

‍BAT, for example, reported sales of £25.8bn last year ($36bn). For context, that's more than Tesla ($31bn), adidas ($24bn) and Netflix ($25bn). The tobacco industry as a whole is expected to grow to more than $260bn a year by 2027, according to some estimates.

Although big tobacco giants remain predominantly reliant on good old fashioned cigarette sticks, they all have various bets on potential new technologies that are healthier or less toxic than traditional ciggies. BAT itself now boasts more than 13 million consumers for its "non-combustible" products, which includes vaping. The company is hoping to hit 50 million by the end of the decade. Big tobacco is not dead, far from it in fact.

J. Edward Moreno11/4/25

Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

Starbucks disclosed on Monday evening in a regulatory filing that it will sell control of its ailing China business to Boyu Capital for about $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will own a 60% stake in the China segment, which will become a joint venture between Boyu and Starbucks. The coffee chain will retain a 40% interest in the entity and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was looking to sell its China segment. The American coffee giant has struggled to succeed in China, its second-largest market after the US.

Tom Jones

10/6/25

OPEC and others are boosting oil production as the race to catch up with the US goes on

This month’s 137,000-barrel-a-day boost is a little more modest than some expected.

Millie Giles

RED FLAG, GREEN FLAG

9/25/25

China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, has pledged to cut emissions for the first time

President Xi Jinping has announced that China is aiming to slash carbon emissions by up to 10% in the next decade.

solar power station on the rooftop of the factory

Claire Yubin Oh9/19/25

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.

According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts at J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance): ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.

Here are the region’s favorites:

Millie Giles

DOT-COM BUBBLE

9/12/25

More than 40% of American adults now report being online “almost constantly”

While a new survey showed Japan has the greatest share of perpetually online people, there was a significant number reporting not using the internet at all.

Big tobacco: Smoking is still a truly enormous industry... and it's still growing?

More World

Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

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