On Tuesday Corning released its earnings and the company’s stock fell over 12% even after it beat expectations.
Corning’s revenue of $4.5 billion was up 17% year-over-year, resulting in an EPS of $0.64, a surge of 19%. On an adjusted basis, sales of $4.7 billion climbed 17%, while its EPS jumped 30% to $0.78.
For context, analysts’ consensus estimates called for adjusted revenue of $4.63 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.76.
Corning’s third quarter estimates of adjusted sales is $4.9 billion and adjusted EPS is $0.87, at the midpoint of its guidance. Investors were disappointed that the company didn’t give a more impressive forecast, creating the severe sell-off.
CEO Wendell Weeks is ambitious about the company’s future though, saying the company plans to grow its annualized sales run rate to $20 billion by the end of 2026, $30 billion by the end of 2028, and $40 billion by the end of 2030.
With the fast growth of AI, data centers are switching from copper to fiber optic cables, which are better suited for data transfer. Demand for fiber optic cables increased 76% in 2025 and is expected to account for 30% of the global fiber demand in 2027.
Corning is the leading provider of fiber-optic cable in the U.S. and one of the top providers worldwide, so the company is well positioned to benefit from this growing demand.
Earlier this year Corning inked multibillion dollar deals with Nvidia and Meta. Data centers need Corning for its infrastructure, no other company has mastered fiber optics like them.
The mass production of data centers is forcing companies to use copper cables because it’s easier currently, but down the line these companies know they’ll need to switch to fiber optics. Copper is just a quick fix right now so businesses can get things up and running but long-term they know they’ll needĀ to reach out to Corning for proper AI infrastructure.
Corning has a great future ahead, investors just want faster results from AI. We’re seeing a tech sell-off not because AI isn’t making money but because investors were spoilt in the early phases, now since it’s not fast enough they look at that as a sign of worry and are moving to healthcare and other safety stocks.
AI is something that we can’t fight, it will continue to be a thing for the future and Corning will be a great recipient of it. Corning also isn’t just an AI beneficiary, it makes valves for pharmaceuticals, glass for cars, glass for phones ā it’s in multiple industries.
