By Dieter Holger

Altria Group Inc. loss narrowed in the latest quarter with sales and adjusted earnings coming above Wall Street's expectations, though it wrote down the value of its stake in e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc.

The Richmond, Va.-based tobacco company reported a loss of $952 million, or 51 cents a share, in the third quarter. A year ago, its loss was $2.6 billion or $1.39 a share.

On an adjusted basis, earnings were $1.19 a share, flat from a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $1.16 a share.

Sales rose to $7.1 billion in the quarter from $6.9 billion a year ago. Revenue from smokeable products was $6.3 billion. Analysts expected $5.53 billion in sales.

Altria said it wrote down the value of its investment in e-cigarette maker Juul, which it holds a 35% stake in, by $2.6 billion in the quarter, slashing the value of the investment to $1.6 billion. The company said the write down was driven by smaller projections for revenue due to lower pricing assumptions and operating margins at Juul, amid heightened competition in the U.S. e-cigarette market and revised international expansion plans.

"Altria continues to believe that e-vapor products, including JUUL, can play an important role in tobacco harm reduction," the company said.

Juul dropped its valuation to $10 billion from $13 billion this month. When Altria took a stake in Juul two years ago, the company held a valuation of $38 billion.

Altria also narrowed its full-year guidance to adjusted earnings between $4.30 to $4.38 a share.

Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-30-20 0754ET