What happened Shares of flooring and carpet company Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) jumped 15.6% in October, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. That handily outpaced the S&P 500's 2% growth for the month. But there's a big caveat to these numbers: The jump didn't erase the beating Mohawk shares took in July, after management warned that the second half of 2019 would be "difficult." Mohawk Industries' top product, ceramic tile, underperformed in Q3 thanks to lower margins. Image source: Getty Images. So what CEO Jeffrey Lorberbaum was frank in a press release announcing the company's Q3 2019 performance, saying: "Our third-quarter operating results were in line with our expectations, though we are not satisfied with our performance." However, the results Mohawk posted were significantly better than investors had been expecting, given the dire warnings they received in Q2. So a 1% drop in revenue and a 16% drop in net income from the prior-year quarter apparently didn't look all that terrible. Even a large drop in diluted per-share earnings, from $3.02 in Q3 2018 to just $2.15 in Q3 2019, wasn't enough to deter investors. Instead, the market focused on adjusted earnings per share, which came in at $2.75, better than the $2.64 per share that analysts had been forecasting. But "not as bad as expected" was still pretty bad. In particular, the company's global ceramic (that is, tile) business saw a slight increase in revenue but a 28.9% decrease in earnings, thanks to a slowing global economy and industry oversupply. The company has launched a number of initiatives to try to right the ship, including adding new "easy-installation" tiles to its lineup and ramping up a new countertop plant in Tennessee, but it remains to be seen if they'll pay off. Now what The problems don't seem to be over for Mohawk, given the guidance the company released for Q4. Management expects adjusted earnings per share for the quarter to land between $2.13 and $2.23. Even if it hits the high end of that guidance, that's still a 34.8% drop from the year-ago quarter. Until Mohawk can prove it has a workable plan to get growth back on track, investors are probably better off looking elsewhere for top stocks for their portfolios. 10 stocks we like better than Mohawk IndustriesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Mohawk Industries wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 1, 2019 John Bromels has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source