Goodyear shares jump 5% premarket after tire maker swings to profit and tops sales estimates

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. shares
GT,
+1.35%
jumped 5% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings beat profit estimates by a wide margin. The company swung to a profit of $63 million, or 27 cents a share, for the quarter, after a loss of $392 million, or $1.68 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 44 cents, ahead of the 16 cents FactSet consensus. Sales fell 2% to $3.7 billion, but beat the $3.6 billion FactSet consensus. Tire unit volumes fell 6% to 3.7 million. “Industry demand during the quarter was affected by the continued economic disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company said in a statement. “Replacement tire shipments declined 7%, reflecting the impact of lower consumer demand and actions taken to align European distribution. Original equipment unit volume increased 3%, reflecting increased market share in Americas and EMEA.” The company said it ended the quarter with total liquidity of $5.4 billion. Shares have fallen 5% in the last 12 months, while the S&P has gained 18%.