That squealing of brakes you heard on the stock market this week was the nearly double-digit skid of Goodyear Tire & Rubber's (GT 0.85%) shares. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, they were down almost 9% week to date as of Thursday night. An uninspiring quarterly earnings report and subsequent analyst price target trims had much to do with that.
The fourth quarter was mixed
After market hours on Monday, Goodyear published the figures from its final quarter of 2023, in addition to those for the full year.
For the quarter, it took in slightly over $5.1 billion in net sales, which was down from the almost $5.4 billion it reported for the same period of 2022. On the other hand, non-GAAP (adjusted) net income rose sharply to $135 million, or $0.47 per share, from the previous fourth quarter's profit of $20 million.
The consensus analyst estimate for net sales was nearly $5.4 billion. However, those pundits were anticipating an adjusted net income of only $0.36 per share, on average.
A general decline in auto sales growth toward the end of 2023 affected Goodyear's results. In its earnings release, the company said its tire unit volume sank by almost 4% year over year.
A pair of price target cuts
Two of those prognosticators wasted little time adjusting their takes on Goodyear in the wake of the earnings release. Both Deutsche Bank's Emmanuel Rosner and JPMorgan Chase's Ryan Brinkman shaved their price targets on the veteran industrial stock. Rosner lowered his to $17 per share from the previous $18, while Brinkman cut his to $19 from $21. Both maintained their equivalents of buy recommendations.
