Goodyear is better for new buying

Article Excerpt

GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. $26.40 (Nasdaq symbol GT; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (330-796-2122; www.goodyear.com; Shares outstanding: 239.8 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) is one of the world’s largest tire makers. It has 47 production plants in 21 countries worldwide. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the company earned $122 million, or $0.50 a share, excluding one-time items. That’s a drop of 35.4%, from $189 million, or $0.74, a year earlier. The earnings decline was partly due to slowing vehicle sales in both North America and Europe. Higher raw material costs, mostly due to rising oil prices, also contributed. Revenue rose 3.5%, to $3.83 billion from $3.70 billion. While Goodyear sold fewer tires overall, it sold more high-profit-margin premium tires. The long-term outlook for tire sales is strong. That’s in part due to the steady shift by automakers toward SUVs and other trucks. Those tires carry higher profit margins. The company also continues to develop connected tires, which will use embedded sensors to let…