22nd Century Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
VLN ® Commercial Expansion Drives Continued Shift Toward Higher Margin Proprietary Branded Products
Expanding VLN ® Store Counts and State Authorizations Increase Availability of Smoking Harm Reduction Products
MOCKSVILLE, N.C., March 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XXII), the only tobacco products company focused on reducing the harms of smoking through nicotine reduction, today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year-ended December 31, 2025, and provided an update on recent business highlights.
The Company’s proprietary low nicotine technology is designed to serve adult smokers who want to change their smoking habits by significantly reducing nicotine consumption. 22nd Century is focusing on smoker health and wellness by giving smokers an opportunity to control their tobacco consumption.
“During 2025, we executed a strategic pivot toward higher-margin branded products, expanded partnerships with established retail chains, and developed a new tobacco harm reduction category, all of which we continue to build upon in 2026. With multiple VLN ® and partner product formats now actively selling in the market, we are especially focused on steadily expanding the number of retail chains and total outlets carrying VLN ® products,” said Larry Firestone, CEO of 22nd Century Group.
Firestone continued, “Our strategy and business model now enable tobacco companies of any size to adopt a Partner VLN ® or licensing pathway with speed and scalability. For the first time, this creates a viable model for the industry to broaden the reach of VLN ® products and meaningfully deliver on its stated commitment to tobacco harm reduction.”
“We also made important progress in 2025 to strengthen our financial position as we shifted our focus from restructuring to growth. We exited the year debt-free, with a more efficient operating structure and sufficient capital to support our near-term growth objectives. During the year, we eliminated over $8.0 million of legacy debt through repayment, settlement, and exchange, improving our balance sheet and reducing our cost base. In addition, we finalized our insurance claim related to the 2022 Grass Valley facility fire, securing a $9.5 million non-dilutive settlement at a critical point in our transition.”
“As we move through 2026, we are executing with a clear strategic growth focus, supported by a strengthened financial and operational foundation. Our priorities include expanding VLN ® retail distribution and consumer awareness, scaling toward profitability, and maintaining active engagement with FDA regulators and public health stakeholders both domestically and internationally.”
Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results (compared to Third Quarter 2025, except as noted)
All figures reported below reflect continuing operations, excluding discontinued operations related to the sale and exit of the Company’s hemp/cannabis business in late 2023, except as noted.
Recent Business Highlights
Fourth Quarter 2025 Product Line Net Revenues
Balance Sheet
Conference Call
22nd Century will host a live webcast today at 8:00 a.m. E.T. to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results and business highlights. The live and archived webcast will be accessible in the Events section on 22nd Century’s Investor Relations website at https://ir.xxiicentury.com/events.
Summary Financial Results
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Summary Product Line Results
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About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group is pioneering the tobacco harm reduction movement by enabling smokers to take control of their nicotine consumption.
Our Technology is Tobacco
Our proprietary non-GMO reduced nicotine tobacco plants were developed using our patented technologies that regulate alkaloid biosynthesis activities resulting in a tobacco plant that contains 95% less nicotine than traditional tobacco plants. Our extensive patent portfolio has been developed to ensure that our high-quality tobacco can be grown commercially at scale. We continue to develop our intellectual property to ensure our ongoing leadership in the tobacco harm reduction movement.
Our Products
We created our flagship product, the VLN ® cigarette using our low nicotine tobacco, to give traditional cigarette smokers an authentic and familiar alternative in the form of a combustible cigarette that helps them take control of their nicotine consumption. VLN ® cigarettes have 95% less nicotine compared to traditional cigarettes and have been proven to allow consumers to greatly reduce their nicotine consumption.
FDA Authorization and Scientific Foundation
VLN ® low nicotine combustible cigarettes were authorized in December 2021, making them the first and still the only combustible cigarettes authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration specifically to help reduce nicotine consumption.
Decades of independent clinical research and peer-reviewed studies—evaluated as part of the FDA’s Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) authorization process—demonstrated that reducing nicotine content can decrease nicotine intake, increase quit attempts, and reduce overall exposure to nicotine.
FDA-authorized VLN ® claims include:
VLN ® and Helps You Smoke Less ® are registered trademarks of 22nd Century Limited LLC.
Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on X (formerly Twitter), on LinkedIn, and on YouTube.
Learn more about VLN ® at tryvln.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our full year business outlook. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “foresee,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “preliminary,” “probable,” “project,” “promising,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding (i) our cost reduction initiatives, (ii) our expectations regarding regulatory enforcement, including our ability to receive an exemption from new regulations, and (iii) our financial and operating performance. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 26, 2026. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Notes regarding Non-GAAP Financial Information
In addition to the Company’s reported results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”), the Company provides EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA.
In order to calculate EBITDA, the Company adjusts net (loss) income by adding back interest expense (income), provision (benefit) for income taxes, and depreciation and amortization expense. Adjusted EBITDA consists of EBITDA adjusted by the Company for certain non-cash and/or non-operating expenses, including adding back equity-based employee compensation expense, restructuring and restructuring-related charges such as impairment, acquisition and transaction costs, and other unusual or infrequently occurring items, if applicable, such as inventory reserves and adjustments, gains or losses on disposal of property, plant and equipment, and gains or losses on investments.
The Company believes that the presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are important financial measures that supplement discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of operations and enhances an understanding of its operating performance. While management considers EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to be important, these financial performance measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for or superior to, other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP, such as operating (loss) income, net (loss) income and cash flows from operations. Adjusted EBITDA is susceptible to varying calculations and the Company’s measurement of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to those of other companies.
Investor Relations & Media Contact
Matt Kreps
Investor Relations
22nd Century Group
investorrelations@xxiicentury.com
214-597-8200
22nd CENTURY GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
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(amounts in thousands, except share and per-share data)
22nd CENTURY GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
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Table A – Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures
(dollars in thousands, except share and per-share data)
Below is a table containing information relating to the Company’s Net loss, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, including a reconciliation of these Non-GAAP measures for such periods.
1Fav = Favorable variance, which increases EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA; Unfav = unfavorable variance, which reduces EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA