What happened
Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT 0.85%) investors beat the market last month. The stock jumped 26% compared to a 2% increase in the S&P 500, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
That increase only removed a small portion of recent shareholder losses, though, and the stock remains down over 30% so far in 2019.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The auto parts and services specialist rallied last month along with peers in the auto industry on reports suggesting that the trade war between the U.S. and China might end soon. News that Goodyear was making progress at cutting costs by reducing its manufacturing footprint in its Alabama factory added slightly to the optimism.
Now what
Investors will have to wait until late October, when Goodyear announces fiscal third-quarter results, to find out whether the challenging selling environment that management described back in July has improved. Net sales declined 5% in Q2, after all, and operating margin worsened to 21% of sales from 23% a year earlier.
In the meantime, the stock is likely to move in tandem with other auto parts specialists on news suggesting tariffs on their imported supplies are headed lower, higher, or staying in place into 2020.
