BAT vs Imperial Brands, side by side
Both make their money from cigarettes and pay large dividends, which is why income investors watch them - and both face the same long-term headwind as smoking declines in developed countries. British American Tobacco is the larger and more global, investing more heavily in 'next-generation' products like vapes and heated tobacco. Imperial Brands is smaller and more focused, prioritising cash generation and its dividend.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and income, and weakest on growth.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and income, and weakest on momentum.
The numbers, side by side
| Measure |  British American Tobacco |  Imperial Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £45.70 | £28.25 |
| Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'. | £98.57B | £21.69B |
| P/E: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth. | 15.7 | 13.3 |
| Div yield: Dividend yield: the yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn just from dividends. | 5.4% | 5.9% |
| Revenue growth | 1.4% | 4.9% |
| 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. | +11% | -4% |
More measures
| Forward P/E: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth. | 11.8 | 7.7 |
|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 25.0% | 9.0% |
| ROE | 13.4% | 37.2% |
| Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. | 0.13 | 0.14 |
The bolder figure is simply the larger of the two - higher is not automatically good (a higher P/E means more expectation in the price; a higher beta means bigger swings).
How they differ
British American Tobacco is roughly 5x the size of Imperial Brands by market value. On our factor screen British American Tobacco currently screens higher on momentum and quality, while Imperial Brands screens higher on value and growth. British American Tobacco trades on the higher P/E (15.7 vs 13.3), so more expectation is already built into its price. Over the past year the share prices moved +11% (British American Tobacco) vs -4% (Imperial Brands).
Descriptive only - how the two compare on today's data, never a verdict on either.
British American Tobacco, in one line
British American Tobacco is a global giant that manufactures and sells cigarettes, vapes, and nicotine pouches to adult consumers worldwide.
Read the full British American Tobacco explainer →Imperial Brands, in one line
Imperial Brands is a long-standing British company that manufactures and sells tobacco products, including cigarettes and modern nicotine alternatives.
Read the full Imperial Brands explainer →What to weigh
If dividend income matters to you, the yields differ (5.4% British American Tobacco vs 5.9% Imperial Brands). These are facts to understand, not a verdict - read each full explainer before deciding anything.
Common questions
Why do these shares offer such high dividend yields?
The market prices in the decline of smoking, so the shares trade cheaply relative to the cash they still throw off - which lifts the yield. A high yield is the market flagging risk, not a free lunch: it depends on those profits holding up.
What is the key long-term risk?
Falling cigarette volumes and tightening regulation. The companies are betting that vaping and heated-tobacco products can replace the lost income - whether those grow fast enough, and how regulators treat them, is the central question.