A tale of two companies

摘要

Analysts views on tyre majors contrasted. "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times," so opens Charles Dickens' famous novel "A Tale of Two Cities." And while all face significant challenges and no-one in the tyre industry is currently claiming the best of times, some companies appear to be weathering the storm better than others. It is an understatement to say that lots has happened in recent weeks and that a lot more is happening and will happen before this article goes to press. However, recent analysts reports considering the full-year results of Continental and Goodyear respectively appear to tell quite contrasting stories about the two tyre majors respective business operations. And since they are based on a longer-term timeframe than the current coronavirus crisis, whether things change greatly before your read this or not, the insights remain valuable.