Tobacco stocks up in smoke NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A $23.6 billion judgment against one cigarette maker is making this a rough Monday for all of Big Tobacco. Tobacco stocks took a hit after a Florida jury awarded the punitive damages to a smoker's widow late Friday.
The stock price for Reynolds American (RAI), parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., fell about 3%. Other Big Tobacco stocks followed suit, with shares of Altria Group (MO) slipping about 2%. Philip Morris (PM) falling about 1% and Lorillard (LO) dropping nearly 3%.
The judgment went in favor of Cynthia Robinson, whose husband Michael Johnson died in 1996 from lung cancer at the age of 36. Robinson sued R.J. Reynolds in 2008, claiming the company was negligent in not telling him that smoking was addictive and could cause lung cancer.
R.J. Reynolds general counsel J. Jeffrey Raborn said his company would fight the award, which he called "grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law."
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said that it manufactures about one of every three cigarettes sold in the U.S. The company's brands are Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Doral and Kool.
Reynolds American and Lorillard have done well overall this year, with shares surging on takeover speculation.
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