Christina Zamarro
Analyst · Deutsche Bank
Thank you, Mark. While our operating performance in the quarter was in line with our expectations, the conflict in the Middle East will materially impact our costs. With a high degree of uncertainty around the duration of the conflict, our approach is similar as to how we've navigated earlier macro pressures. We are proactively preparing for a wide range of scenarios. We're implementing further profit-enhancing actions and have already initiated prudent steps on cost management. As events continue to unfold, we'll maintain the flexibility to adjust our approach as needed. I'll come back to the outlook in just a few moments. Turning to the income statement on Slide 6. First quarter sales were $3.9 billion, down about 9% from last year, given lower volume and last year's divestitures. Unit volume declined 12%, driven by lower consumer replacement volume in Americas and EMEA. As Mark mentioned, consumer OE volume increased, driven by share gains in both of those regions. Gross margin improved by 0.5 point, which includes a $46 million tariff adjustment related to the IEEPA Supreme Court decision in February. SG&A increased $18 million, which was more than all explained by the weaker U.S. dollar, particularly against the euro. Excluding currency, SAG decreased $10 million. Segment operating income was $95 million. I'll note that our effective tax rate was unusually high given our country mix of earnings. After adjusting for significant items, including new rationalizations and discrete tax items in the quarter, non-GAAP earnings per share was a loss of $0.39. Turning to the segment operating income walk on Slide 7. Our 2025 earnings base was lower by $37 million due to last year's divestitures. After this change in scope, our 2025 SOI was $158 million. Lower tire unit volume and factory utilization were a headwind of $159 million. Price/mix versus raw materials was a benefit of $103 million. Goodyear Forward contributed $107 million of benefits during the quarter and inflation, tariffs and other costs were a headwind of $117 million, which includes a $46 million IEEPA tariff adjustment. Foreign currency and other were a tailwind of $3 million. Turning to Slide 8. Free cash flow was a use of $893 million in the quarter, consistent with our seasonality and largely in line with last year's levels after excluding operating cash received in the first quarter 2025 from the sale of OTR. Net debt declined almost $900 million versus a year ago, reflecting debt repayment at the end of last year. Moving to the SBU results on Slide 10. Americas unit volume decreased 17%, driven by lower U.S. consumer replacement volume. Commercial volume was also significantly lower than last year, following trends in recent quarters. U.S. consumer replacement volume reflected a couple of different factors. First, the external environment. We saw destocking at our retailers and distributors given weak industry sell-out trends as well as market share losses following aggressive competition for shelf space, particularly in the less than 18-inch rim size segments. The second factor was our own planned exits of low-margin product lines, which amplified our volume decline in light of the difficult industry environment. We will lap the majority of our product exits by the end of the second quarter. And it's important to note that our premium products continue to perform well as we look at our market share at retail sell-out. Having said that, competitive market share losses in structurally vulnerable lower-tier segments requires that we accelerate actions to reduce footprint costs. Turning to the commercial truck business. Replacement volume declined 22% and OE volume was down 5.5%, but relatively stable compared with the fourth quarter. Americas segment operating income was $37 million, reflecting the impact of lower volume, partly offset by price/mix versus raw material benefits and Goodyear Forward savings ahead of cost inflation, net of the IEEPA tariff adjustment. Turning to Slide 11. EMEA's first quarter unit volume decreased 8.5%. Consumer replacement volume declined, reflecting a weak sell-in market, low-end portfolio rationalizations and increased competition, partly offset by the relaunch of the Cooper brand in the region. Consumer OE was a continued area of strength and commercial volume improved, driven by replacement. Segment operating income in EMEA was $1 million in the quarter, reflecting an increase of $13 million adjusted for the sale of the Dunlop brand. I'll also note that in March, we announced a rationalization plan to streamline our sales and distribution model and our business processes that should deliver $50 million in annual savings. The plan should be complete by 2028. Finally, as Mark noted, our direct volume exposure to customers located in the Middle East is relatively immaterial. In addition, before the beginning of the conflict, we have fixed about 75% of our energy rate exposure in EMEA for the current year. And finally, EMEA should see much less of an impact from rationalized product lines in Q2. Turning to Asia Pacific on Slide 12. Segment operating income increased 27% to $57 million or 12.5% of sales, expanding 3 full points compared to the prior year. Growth in earnings was driven by strong execution in price/mix versus raw materials with our premium product lines up nearly 30% year-over-year. Asia's first quarter unit volume decreased 3.8%, driven by lower OE volume, particularly in China, given lower EV incentives versus last year. Turning to our 2026 outlook. The direct impacts of the conflict in Iran on the tire industry and our earnings largely depends on its duration, related impacts to customer and consumer demand and higher commodity costs, all which make the outlook for the balance of the year unclear. At current spot prices, raw materials will be a headwind of $200 million in the second half, which represents a headwind of about $300 million from our prior forecast. We have a consistent track record of offsetting raw material inflation with price mix, and we are fully committed to new and meaningful operating and structural cost reduction. While there is very clear pressure on our near-term earnings, I am confident in our team's ability to manage through various scenarios that might unfold over the coming quarters with both price/mix and cost actions over time. As we look at the second quarter on Slide 14, we would expect lower year-on-year volumes, but improving from the first quarter, all else equal. This expectation is rooted in new assortment wins with key customers, actions we implemented during the first quarter and a more natural alignment of sell-in relative to sell-out. Having said that, it's not clear what demand volatility we may see due to the Middle East conflict. Our second quarter industry assumption for consumer replacement is down about 3% in North America and China and down about 2% in EMEA. For commercial, we expect the industry in North America to be down 12% and down 3% to 4% in EMEA. Given production cuts in the first and second quarters, including actions to manage our cash flow during this period of uncertainty, unabsorbed overhead will be a headwind of approximately $90 million and negative again in the third quarter. Price/mix should continue to be positive and step up meaningfully from the first quarter given stronger volume and our mix of new fitments, all else equal. Raw materials should be a benefit of roughly $100 million, and Goodyear Forward will drive benefits of approximately $90 million in the quarter. Inflation, tariffs and other costs will be a headwind of approximately $200 million. On a full year basis, these will be about $420 million higher, which is a reduction of about $80 million from our February call, driven by the IEEPA tariff adjustment of $60 million, $46 million of which we recorded during the first quarter. Finally, the sales of Dunlop and Chemical lowers the base of earnings by $43 million in the second quarter. Other financial assumptions are shown on Slide 15. Given the uncertain environment, we have reduced planned capital expenditures to $725 million. Our global tax rate will continue to be unusually high and sensitive to changes in country mix. And finally, while our working capital for the year could be shaped by both timing and levels of volume and commodity rates, we will continue to target a working capital inflow at year-end. With that, we'll open the line for your questions.