Published: January 22, 2026 | Published By: Real Creative Agency
Charlie’s Holdings’ SBX, PMTA Portfolio and Upcoming Age Gating Vape Solution Threatens Big Tobacco’s Monopoly
Everybody knows tobacco stocks have been some of the safest, most profitable investments in history. For over a century, Big Tobacco printed cash because nicotine demand never disappeared.
But that monopoly is finally cracking.
Adult consumers are switching from combustible cigarettes to safer vaping to get their nicotine. Industry forecasts show the number of vapers is expected to surpass cigarette smokers as soon as next year. When behavior shifts, capital follows.
Big Tobacco is nervous. And they should be.
E-cigarette margins can be 4 to 5 times larger than cigarettes, but unlike traditional tobacco, vaping does not have the same legacy barriers. That opens the door for smaller, faster companies to capture demand before giants can react.
One of those companies is Charlie’s Holdings (CHUC). It is a profitable penny stock building what may be the most valuable moat in flavored nicotine.
Big Tobacco FOMO may already be starting.
Charlie’s built a category-killer flavored vape line that is legal in nearly all 50 states, with revenue ramping quickly. On top of that, it owns a competitive advantage that none of the Big Tobacco companies currently have.
Flavored PMTAs.
Charlie’s has filed 679 PMTA applications for its flavored vape products. PMTAs are required to legally sell vapes in the United States.
Now compare that to Big Tobacco.
How many flavored PMTAs have the major tobacco companies filed?
Zero.
They are boxed into tobacco flavor while adult consumers demand flavored vapes by roughly a four-to-one landslide.
That gap is why one major tobacco company already bought a group of Charlie’s PMTAs for over $11 million, including $1 million for a single SKU.
And Charlie’s still owns 679 more.
That makes CHUC a natural acquisition target.
The price tag could climb significantly as Charlie’s prepares to launch what many are calling the “holy grail” of the vaping space.
Age gating.
The Shift From Cigarettes to Flavored Vaping and Nicotine Alternatives
Nicotine demand never left. The delivery system did.
Cigarettes burn tobacco. Vapes heat liquid. Pouches sit under the lip. The experience is cleaner, more controllable, and increasingly preferred by adults.
This shift is already visible:
• Smokers are moving to vapes and pouches.
• Chew is losing share.
• Flavor drives adoption.
Adults do not want plain tobacco flavor. They want variety. That is why flavored products dominate demand in legal markets.
Big Tobacco’s problem is structural. They built empires around cigarettes. Vaping arrived without their historic walls.
At first, anyone could sell e-cigs. Most came from China.
Then regulators rebuilt the wall.
And Charlie’s walked straight through it instead of running around it.
PMTA Regulation History May Have Created Charlie’s Moat
Quick history.
In 2009, the FDA required new cigarettes to file time-consuming and costly PMTAs while grandfathering existing ones. That handed Big Tobacco a protected monopoly and squeezed out competition through time and expense.
Then e-cigarettes arrived in 2003, delivering nicotine without burning tobacco. For nearly two decades, almost anyone could sell vapes, mostly imported from China.
In 2020, the FDA rebuilt the wall by requiring PMTAs for every vape product. Enforcement followed in 2021. Companies tried escaping through synthetic nicotine.
The FDA sealed the synthetic nicotine exit in 2022.
Many companies ignored the law.
By 2024, illegal vapes made up over 86 percent of the U.S. market.
Charlie’s did not run. It invested millions and filed comprehensive PMTAs on time. Most competitors filed weak applications, got denied, and never tried again.
Now the payoff is starting.
States and the FDA are cracking down. Texas, the largest vape market, banned Chinese-made vapes.
Charlie’s opened a U.S. manufacturing facility and began shipping into Texas immediately.
US filled vape egulation is no longer a threat to CHUC. It is the engine.
The Holy Grail of Vaping. Age Gating Technology
Flavor drives demand. Youth protection drives regulation.
That tension has blocked the entire industry.
Enter the holy grail. Age-gating technology.
Charlie’s will launch flavored vapes with technology designed to verify age before use and while in use (continuously).
It directly addresses the FDA’s top priority, youth prevention, while unlocking flavored products adults already demand at scale.
No major player has solved that problem yet.
If successful, Charlie’s might be able to amend its PMTAs with age-gating, pushing the portfolio value far beyond today’s implied value of $650M.
If Charlie’s does, its moat becomes technological, regulatory, and commercial all at once.
CHUC vs Turning Point Brands TPB
Turning Point Brands is a multi-billion-dollar nicotine company and a stock market darling.
Recently, it posted a 627 percent jump to $36 million in pouch sales.
Now look at Charlie’s.
CHUC’s SBX flavored vape is already on pace to surpass TPB’s nicotine pouch growth in just six months, and that is before age-gating even launches.
Momentum is visible:
• Q2 revenue showed PMTA licensing.
• Q3 showed explosive SBX demand.
• Q4 is expected to be even stronger
Insiders own nearly 50 percent and continue buying shares.
Turning Point Brands insiders have been continuous sellers.
CHUC trades around $0.30, valuing the company near $80 million. Management targets $10 million monthly sales, or $120 million annually, by mid-2026.
Peers trade at 4 to 5 times forward sales.
If CHUC executes, the math starts looking very different.
Altria Bought NJOY. Could History Repeat Itself With CHUC?
Big Tobacco already showed its hand.
Altria paid $2.75 billion cash for NJOY.
What did NJOY have?
Six SKUs.
All tobacco flavored.
Now compare that to Charlie’s.
Charlie’s owns 679 flavored PMTAs, already validated by a Big Tobacco purchase at over $11 million for just 16 of them.
At that pricing, the implied portfolio value alone approaches $650 million, before SBX growth, before U.S. manufacturing, before age gating.
Big Tobacco has cash. Its monopoly is fading. Its fastest rebuild path may not be invention.
It may be acquisition.
And CHUC fits the exact pattern.
CHUC Could Be Big Tobacco’s Fastest Way to Rebuild Its Moat
Here is what is driving Charlie’s growth.
- First, Big Tobacco already bought 16 PMTAs for $11.7 million. Charlie’s still owns 679, implying massive optionality.
- Second, non-nicotine flavored SBX vapes launched and demand is exceeding supply.
- Third, U.S. manufacturing positions CHUC perfectly for state bans on Chinese products.
- Fourth, age-gating technology could unlock flavored mass retail while satisfying regulators.
Add it together.
Big Tobacco is boxed into tobacco flavor.
Adults demand flavored products. Regulation is forcing illegal players out.
Charlie’s invested early, filed correctly, built domestically, and layered technology on top.
That is how moats are born.
For over a century, tobacco printed money because demand never left.
It still has not.
It just changed form.
And Charlie’s Holdings may be standing exactly where Big Tobacco’s next chapter begins.
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Safe Harbor Statement: This interview contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company’s overall business, existing and anticipated markets and expectations regarding future sales and expenses. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “intend,” variations of these terms or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions, are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company’s control. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the Company’s ongoing ability to quote its shares on the OTCQB; whether the Company will meet the requirements to up-list to a national securities exchange in the future; the Company’s ability to successfully increase sales and enter new markets; whether the Company’s PMTA’s for its nicotine-containing products will be authorized by the FDA, and the FDA’s decisions with respect to the Company’s future PMTA’s for nicotine products; the Company’s ability to manufacture and produce products for its customers; the Company’s ability to formulate new products; the acceptance of existing and future products; the complexity, expense and time associated with compliance with government rules and regulations affecting nicotine, synthetic nicotine, and products containing nicotine substitutes; litigation risks from the use of the Company’s products; risks of government regulations; the impact of competitive products; and the Company’s ability to maintain and enhance its brands, as well as other risk factors included in the Company’s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on Form 10-K, and other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this interview and are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this interview as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.
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Disclaimer
This communication is a paid advertisement for Charlies Holdings. to enhance public awareness of the Company, its products, its industry and as a potential investment opportunity. This communication is not intended as, and should not be construed to be, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.This communication is a paid advertisement for Charlies Holdings to enhance public awareness of the Company, its products, its industry and as a potential investment opportunity. Real Creative Agency, and their owners, managers, employees, and assigns were paid by the Company to create, produce and distribute this advertisement. This compensation should be viewed as a major conflict for this presentation to be unbiased.On August 7, 2025, Charlies Holdings agreed to pay Scott Shaffer (i) $5,0000 per month for 6 months (ii) issue 300,000 restricted shares of Charlies Holdings (CHUC).This communication is not intended as, and should not be construed to be, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Neither this communication nor the Company purport to provide a complete analysis of the Company or its financial position. The Company is not, and does not purport to be, a broker-dealer or registered investment adviser. This communication is not, and should not be construed to be, personalized investment advice directed to or appropriate for any particular investor. Any investment should be made only after consulting a professional investment advisor and only after reviewing the financial statements and other pertinent corporate information about the Company. Further, readers are advised to read and carefully consider the Risk Factors identified and discussed in the government filings. Investing in securities is speculative and carries a high degree of risk.
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