Michelin (EU:ML) came under mild pressure early on Tuesday, following disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and a cautious volume outlook from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co (NASDAQ:GT). The update from the US peer dampened sentiment across the global tyre sector.
By mid-morning European trading, Michelin shares were down around 0.3%. In contrast, Italy’s Pirelli (BIT:PIRC) edged up 0.4%, while Germany’s Continental (TG:CON) gained 0.2%.
In a sector note, analysts at Citigroup said Michelin is the “most exposed” of the European tyre makers to the US market and “have sizeable exposure to the still weak U.S. truck market, albeit more diversified across regions versus Goodyear.”
“Hence any negative read to Michelin we think should not take shares more that 2% lower today,” the Citi analysts added. They also noted that Pirelli has the lowest exposure among the group, partly because it lacks exposure to the US truck segment.
In US premarket trading, Goodyear shares fell more than 8% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $0.39, missing Bloomberg consensus expectations of $0.49.
According to analysts at Wolfe Research, Goodyear’s implied outlook for the current quarter reflects expectations that global tyre volumes will decline by 10% year on year due to an “industry inventory build-up and adverse weather.”
They added that while Goodyear did not issue detailed guidance for its 2026 fiscal year or quantify expected volumes, its broader assumptions suggest the group “would need to be able to bring its volumes back to flat year-on-year for 2026 or announce new deep cost savings” for segment operating income to match 2025 levels and for this year’s free cash flow “to be just above breakeven.”
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