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AKRON — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Monday it sold fewer tires in the third quarter as the U.S. auto industry slowed down, but on average earned more for each tire and beat Wall Street's earnings expectations.
Earnings for the biggest U.S. tiremaker dropped sharply in the third quarter from a year ago, when it got a $517 million one-time lift from the sale of its Engineered Products unit.
But its shares rose nearly 9 percent in afternoon trading.
Goodyear earned $31 million, or 13 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, down from $668 million, or $2.75 per share, a year ago.
Third-quarter income from continuing operations was $31 million, or 13 cents per share, compared to $159 million, or 67 cents a share, for the same period last year.
Its sales rose to $5.2 billion from $5.1 billion a year earlier.
While net sales increased 2 percent, the number of tires sold declined 12.4 percent as car manufacturing slowed and higher gas prices meant less driving and fewer tire replacements.
Third-quarter charges included items related to closing of plants and some retail outlets and health-care trust expenses.
The latest earnings work out to 43 cents before one-time items, beating the 33 cents a share forecast by Wall Street analysts whose estimates typically exclude charges, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Goodyear made more money per tire as a better mix of expensive high-end tires offset increased costs for raw materials.
Revenue per tire, excluding foreign currency issues, increased 8 percent over the 2007 quarter.
"The tire industry is facing challenging business conditions as the global financial crisis and slowing economic conditions are impacting consumer demand in all regions. Our results reflect the economic reality of weakened industry demand and the associated cost impact of production cuts we initiated during the quarter," said Robert J. Keegan, chairman and chief executive officer.
For the first nine months of the year, Goodyear earned $253 million, or $1.04 per share, on sales of $15.4 billion, down from nine-month 2007 earnings of $550 million, or $2.44 per share, on sales of $14.5 billion.
Goodyear shares rose 79 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $9.71 in afternoon trading after rising as high as $10.67 earlier in the session. They have traded in a 52-week range of $7.75 to $30.79.
Goodyear has about 70,000 employees and makes products in more than 60 factories in 26 countries.
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