(Reuters) – Tire manufacturer Michelin fell on the Paris Stock Exchange on Thursday after sharing with analysts a rather pessimistic outlook for its third-quarter sales volumes.

Michelin shares dropped 4.4% around 08:20 GMT, marking the worst performance of the CAC 40, which lost 0.03% at the same time.

The Clermont-based group said Wednesday during a conference call with analysts that while demand had improved during the third quarter, it had not met expectations compared to the previous quarter.

“In this context, third quarter volumes for tires will remain negative year-on-year. The trend is positive during the quarter but the sequential improvement compared to the second quarter is weaker than we initially thought and should result in an overall decline of around 5% (‘mid-single-digit’) compared to the previous year,” Michelin said, according to a transcript of the conference. published by the group.

The publication of the tire manufacturer’s quarterly results is scheduled for October 22.

JP Morgan analysts are cautious after this conference and have revised their adjusted EBIT forecasts downward for 2025 and 2026, by 3% and 5% respectively.

“The greater drop in sales will fuel expectations that forecasts for the financial year will have to be revised downwards,” underline the economists at Jefferies.

Michelin reported in July a 3.4% drop in its sales in the first half, due in particular to the drop in sales volumes, in a context of slowdown in the automobile market, particularly in Europe.

The group nevertheless confirmed its annual objectives, subject to the absence of a further deterioration in the economic environment in the second half.

(Written by Diana Mandiá, with Mateusz Rabiega, edited by Blandine Hénault)

Copyright © 2025 Thomson Reuters