US strength helps Goodyear top expectations
By Associated Press
Jul 29, 2015 7:53 AM CDT
FILE - In this April 3, 2014 file photo, Goodyear tire technical officials discuss tires at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Goodyear reports quarterly financial results on Wednesday, July 29, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)   (Associated Press)

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on Wednesday reported a drop in second-quarter profit as a strong U.S. dollar cut into international sales, but the results beat Wall Street expectations.

The tire maker's profit fell 9.9 percent to $192 million, or 70 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 84 cents per share.

The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 74 cents per share.

The Akron, Ohio-based company saw revenue fall 10.4 percent to $4.17 billion in the period, which also beat Wall Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.08 billion.

Sales in North America fell 1 percent to $2.03 billion as a boost in tire unit sales was offset by lower third-party chemical sales. Tire volume saw a healthy increase, partly benefiting from people holding on to their cars for longer periods of time. The average vehicle in the U.S. is now 11.5 years old, according to consulting firm IHS Automotive. New-car sales have also been strong this year.

Goodyear suffered along with many other companies doing business overseas because of the stronger U.S. dollar. Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 20 percent to about $1.3 billion, sales in Asia fell 10 percent to $491 million, and sales in Latin America fell 20 percent to $390 million.

Goodyear shares have increased 3.5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 2 percent. The stock has increased nearly 7 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GT at http://www.zacks.com/ap/GT

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Keywords: Goodyear, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings