Without question, Goodyear Tire (GT) doesn’t rank among the exciting investments. For one thing, the underlying industry is rather boring. Further, over the past five years, GT stock dropped nearly 62% of equity value. And with no dividend to offer stakeholders for the risk, the tire manufacturer doesn’t make a compelling case for anything other than perhaps as a target for bears. However, this narrative may change this year.

Granted, it’s a terribly risky idea to get involved with GT stock. Aside from the long-term market loss, the Barchart Technical Opinion indicator rates Goodyear shares as a 48% sell. Specifically, the investment resource warns about a weakening short-term outlook. As well, analysts have little confidence regarding GT’s medium and long-term outlooks.

As well, analysts have started to give up on GT stock. Three months ago, Wall Street experts pegged Goodyear as a moderate buy, breaking down to three strong buys and four holds. Currently, the overall assessment remains the same. However, the individual ratings break down to three strong buys, three holds and one strong sell.

If that wasn’t enough, Goodyear produced a fourth-quarter earnings miss. According to Zacks, the company posted earnings per share of 7 cents, missing the consensus target of 17 cents per share. In the year-ago quarter, Goodyear posted an EPS of 57 cents.

That said, Goodyear did generate revenue of $5.37 billion in Q4, beating the consensus target by 1.65%. Also, the latest tally compares favorably to the year-ago revenue of $5.05 billion.

Finally, the tire manufacturer represented a highlight for unusual stock options volume. Specifically, total volume reached 18,853 contracts against an open interest reading of 190,692. The delta between the Friday session volume and the trailing one-month average volume came out to 313.17%. Most notably, though, call volume hit 17,141 contracts against put volume of 1,712, implying bullish sentiment.

While GT stock appears wildly risky, here are three factors to consider before turning the page on it altogether.

Rich People to Bolster GT Stock

In August of last year, NPD reported that the small increase in tire unit sales were buoyed by households with $100,000-plus income. From a strictly logical standpoint, this framework makes perfect sense. Obviously, the more disposable income one has, the greater the ability to purchase higher-ticket items. Moreover, the economic circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may end up benefitting GT stock.

According to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the share of total net worth held by the top 1% of U.S. society stood at 31.9% as of the first quarter of 2022. That’s a significant increase from the 29.7% posted in Q1 2020. Put another way, the unique disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic drove more wealth to the ultra-affluent. In turn, this development may lift GT stock.

Return to Normal Bodes Well for Goodyear

Another potential upside catalyst for GT stock centers on the broader return to normal. When the COVID-19 crisis initially capsized American society, several companies responded by shifting their operations remotely. To mitigate against the pandemic, this was arguably the best available move. However, with COVID fears fading, several companies have recalled their workers back to the office.

Of course, such recalls have been met with resistance from workers wanting a permanent shift to remote operations. However, with layoffs in the technology space gradually spilling over into other industries, people need to be extra careful about sticking out for the wrong reasons. Almost invariably, then, most folks will likely tow the corporate line.

If so, investors should expect more traffic volume on U.S. roadways, which should represent a boon for GT stock.

Truck Tonnage Rising

Finally, Goodyear doesn’t just serve the consumer retail market. Indeed, it has a business unit dedicated to commercial fleets. That’s going to be particularly important moving ahead because since the COVID-19 lows, the truck tonnage index – courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics – has been moving northward.

To be fair, truck tonnage hit a recent peak in September last year. The index then proceeded to fall sharply to November. However, since then through January of this year, truck tonnage has been moving in the upward direction. Naturally, if this momentum holds, the narrative should benefit GT stock.

Of course, a caveat to this framework centers on broader economic health. If the economy falls into recession, then the truck tonnage argument might not pan out well. However, even if we enter a downcycle, keep in mind that employed worker bees will then be desperate to keep their jobs, which means cooperating with in-office transition requests.

Ultimately, this should still boost traffic volume on a net basis, potentially supporting GT stock.

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