A data-driven look at ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, Imperial Brands, and Qt Group — four companies from very different worlds.
Four companies. Four industries. Vastly different futures.
The largest U.S. oil company, with ~4.7 million barrels per day in production following the 2024 Pioneer Natural Resources acquisition. Revenue is tightly tied to crude oil prices.
Transitioning from cigarettes to "smoke-free" products. IQOS heated tobacco and ZYN nicotine pouches now represent 41.5% of revenues. Revenue grew 7.3% in 2025.
The world's fourth-largest tobacco company by volume. A "value" play with the highest dividend yield in this group. Next-gen products (blu vapor, Pulze) remain unprofitable.
Finnish software company behind the Qt framework — the world's most-used cross-platform development tool. 1.5 million developers, 180+ countries. Software for automotive (Mercedes-Benz, GM), medical, industrial, and aerospace.
Indexed revenue growth since 2020. Qt Group's trajectory speaks for itself.
Qt Group data in EUR. ExxonMobil data reflects commodity-driven cyclicality. Philip Morris and Imperial Brands shown at constant currency. Sources: company annual reports.
Assessed across six dimensions critical to long-term investors.
Radar chart across six investment dimensions. Larger area = stronger investment profile.
Six factual reasons the software company outclasses its peers on the dimensions that matter.
Qt sells software development tools. Unlike tobacco (proven carcinogens) or oil (greenhouse gas emissions), Qt's products help engineers build better software. No health class actions, no climate liability, no ESG exclusions on product grounds.
Qt grew revenue from €79.5M (2020) to €209.1M (2024) — a compound annual growth rate of ~25.8%. ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, and Imperial Brands cannot match this structural growth rate from their mature revenue bases.
Commercial licensing creates predictable, contract-based revenue not exposed to oil price swings or cigarette volume declines. The dual-license model (open-source + commercial) generates an organic developer pipeline at zero marketing cost.
Qt powers HMI displays in Mercedes-Benz MB.OS and GM's Ultifi platform. As vehicles become software-defined platforms, Qt's footprint in automotive deepens. This is a secular growth driver, not a cyclical bet on oil prices.
After the 2025 acquisition of IAR Systems (embedded compiler tools), Qt's combined TAM expands to €10+ billion — 25× its standalone TAM. It is a small company with a large runway, unlike mature tobacco or oil businesses with stagnant or shrinking markets.
Qt's EBITA margin reached 34.1% in 2024, achieved with ~922 employees and negligible capital expenditure. Compare this to ExxonMobil's $29B annual capex just to maintain and grow production. Software scales; drilling rigs do not.
Every investment has risks. Transparency matters.
| Company | Primary Risk | Secondary Risk | Existential Risk? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExxonMobil | Oil price collapse / energy transition | $29B/yr capex required to sustain production | High (long-term) |
| Philip Morris | Regulation of IQOS & ZYN globally | $48.8B debt load constrains flexibility | Medium |
| Imperial Brands | Secular cigarette volume decline | NGP segment still unprofitable | High (long-term) |
| Qt Group | Automotive market softness (cyclical) | IAR Systems integration execution | Low |
ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, and Imperial Brands are mature companies returning capital to shareholders while managing secular decline in their core industries. They offer yield — but the price is exposure to stranded asset risk, regulatory crackdowns, and the slow erosion of their core products.
Qt Group operates in a different universe. Software for connected devices is not a declining market — it is one of the fastest-growing segments in the global economy. Qt's 1.5 million developers, 34% EBITA margins, 25%+ revenue CAGR, and now a €10B+ addressable market tell a compounding story that tobacco and oil cannot replicate.
Yield is valuable. But owning a share of the infrastructure that powers the software-defined vehicle era, factory automation, and medical devices — with no commodity dependence, no health liability, and no net-zero credibility gap — may be worth more than any dividend.