From: Washington Examiner
The FDA’s assault on vaping is a gift to Big Tobacco
by Guy Bentley
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E-cigarettes are a direct challenge to conventional cigarettes. Companies like JUUL Labs, which have been the subject of an onslaught of negative media coverage, are eating into the cigarette market and outcompeting the tobacco industry’s e-cigarette products.
So it is perhaps unsurprising that tobacco stocks jumped following Gottlieb’s announcement. “Given that big tobacco has yet to find a productive way to meaningfully compete against JUUL, an FDA decision to pull flavors from the market would be a notable positive for MO, BATS, IMB, and JT as it would reset the competitive landscape in vapor,” said Cowen Equity Research.