Goodyear Record Q4 Profit vs $1.7B Annual Loss

Popular Science | Goodyear Tire Giant's 2025 Performance Analysis: A Triumphant Fourth Quarter, Yet a Net Loss Exceeding 10 Billion?

On February 9, 2026, Goodyear, a global tire giant with a 127-year history, officially released its operating results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. This financial report can be described as "half joy, half sorrow"—the fourth quarter achieved its best performance in nearly seven years, with both revenue and profit surging; however, the full year saw a net loss exceeding 10 billion RMB, a stark contrast. Today, we'll use simple language to break down this "contradictory" financial report and understand the tire giant's transformation and predicament.

First, let's look at the highlight: A Triumphant Fourth Quarter Performance

For Goodyear, the fourth quarter of 2025 was absolutely a "comeback," with all core data exceeding market expectations. In the words of CEO Mark Stewart, "Both revenue and operating profit margin reached their highest levels in nearly seven years."

Here are the key figures (converted to RMB for easier understanding):

- Net sales: $4.9 billion (approximately RMB 33.866 billion), flat compared to the same period in 2024;

- Net profit: $105 million (approximately RMB 726 million), a surge of over 43% year-over-year;

- Adjusted net profit: $113 million, also showing a slight increase of 1.18% quarter-over-quarter;

- Segment operating profit: $416 million (approximately RMB 2.875 billion), a year-over-year increase of 9%, with the operating profit margin climbing to 8.5%.

More importantly, this achievement comes after Goodyear's "slimming down." In 2025, Goodyear successively sold off non-core assets such as specialty tires, chemical businesses, and the Dunlop brand. However, even after divesting these businesses, its core passenger car, light truck, and truck/bus tire businesses maintained stable sales, with tire sales reaching 42.3 million sets.

Excluding the impact of the sale of non-core businesses, Goodyear's organic net sales grew by 4% in the fourth quarter, with organic segment revenue surging by 18%. This performance was primarily driven by three key factors: stable raw material prices, optimized product and pricing mix, and the effective implementation of the transformation plan launched at the end of 2023—which generated $192 million in revenue for the company in the fourth quarter alone, and is projected to contribute a cumulative $1.25 billion (approximately RMB 8.6 billion) by the end of 2025.

However, beneath this success lie concerns: inflation, tariff pressures, $227 million in additional costs, and a $92 million loss due to declining tire sales partially offset the profit growth; otherwise, the fourth quarter's performance would have been even more impressive.

Looking at the full-year challenges: a net loss of RMB 11.7 billion, with declining sales being a major blow.

Compared to the "bumper harvest" of the fourth quarter, Goodyear's full-year performance in 2025 appears rather dismal, with the core issues concentrated on "declining sales" and "huge losses."

Key Full-Year Data Breakdown:

- Net Sales: $18.3 billion (approximately RMB 126.48 billion);

- Tire Sales: 158.7 million units, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 5%, a larger decline than in the fourth quarter;

- Net Loss: $1.7 billion (approximately RMB 11.7 billion), a stark contrast to the net income of $46 million for the full year of 2024.

Regional Performance: The global market presented a stark contrast:

1. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa): The only market to achieve growth, with full-year sales increasing by 2% year-on-year, and operating profit surging twofold in the fourth quarter, becoming Goodyear's "profit pillar" for the year.

2. Asia Pacific Market: Seemingly underperforming—both sales and operating profit experienced double-digit declines, but actually harboring potential. It is the only region among all Goodyear's global markets with an operating profit margin (fourth quarter and full-year average) exceeding 10%.

The decline in the Asia-Pacific market was mainly due to two reasons: first, Goodyear's sale of its off-road tire business to Yokohama directly impacted sales; second, the continued impact of China's 2025 new car subsidy policy dragged down replacement tire sales, leading to a 1.6% decrease in tire sales in the Asia-Pacific region in the fourth quarter.

However, excluding the impact of the off-road tire business sale, the Asia-Pacific segment's operating revenue actually increased by 30%, and the operating profit margin improved by 3.3 percentage points, demonstrating significant potential.

Summary: The "Pain and Hope" of Transformation

In essence, Goodyear's 2025 performance is a true reflection of its "transformation period"—streamlining by selling non-core assets, focusing on its core tire business, and simultaneously advancing its transformation plan, which has already shown significant results (the fourth quarter was a highlight).

The company also gained $2.3 billion from asset divestitures throughout the year, far exceeding the expected $300 million. These funds were mainly used to repay debt, "reducing the burden" for future development.

The full-year loss was more a result of the "pain" of transformation: declining sales, the short-term impact of the divestiture of non-core businesses, coupled with global market uncertainties (inflation, tariffs), put pressure on overall performance.

However, judging from regional potential (high profit margins in the Asia-Pacific region), core business resilience (stable growth in the fourth quarter), and the effectiveness of its transformation, Goodyear's "streamlining and focusing" strategy is gradually taking effect.

For the tire industry, Goodyear's financial report also reflects the current state of the industry: against the backdrop of global market pressure and intensified competition, giants are breaking through by "streamlining," "focusing on core businesses," and "upgrading technology."

The high potential of the Asia-Pacific market, including China, has become a key battleground for these giants—after all, markets that can achieve profit margins of over 10% will inevitably become the core of future profitability.