Cooper Tire Misses Q1 Estimates, Shares Drop

Shares of

dropped more than 5 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for the first quarter. The Findlay, Ohio-based company posted a quarterly profit of $40.8 million, or $0.69 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $45.4 million, or $0.71 per share. Its net sales declined to $663.2 million from $796.5 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.77 per share on revenue of $682.6 million. The average estimate among 3 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.77 per share and revenue of $685.95 million. Net sales from its international tire operations slipped to $107.1 million in the first quarter, versus $310 million in the year-earlier quarter. North America tire operations sales rose 6 percent to $598.5 million. Its operating profit slipped to $70 million from $81 million. At the end of the quarter, the company had $449 million in cash and cash equivalents, versus $336 million at March 31, 2014. "Our first quarter performance continued the positive trends we saw last year. The Americas segment posted outstanding results, with solid unit volume growth and an operating margin of 15 percent, well above our target. With the strong Americas performance, we came close to last year's earnings per share despite the absence of CCT in the quarter," said Roy Armes, Cooper's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. Cooper Tire & Rubber shares fell 5.84 percent to $40.01 in pre-market trading.