Corning reported fourth-quarter earnings
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Corning posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, and projected accelerating growth in the first quarter, as the specialty-glass maker saw strength across multiple product lines. But the stock nonetheless was trading lower on Wednesday morning.
For the quarter, Corning (ticker: GLW) posted “core” sales of $3.33 billion, up 17% from a year earlier and 11% from the third quarter, and ahead of the Wall Street analyst consensus at $3.19 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 52 cents a share, up 13% from a year ago, and above the Street consensus at 38 cents a share. On a GAAP basis, sales were $3.35 billion, and profits were 28 cents a share.
For the first quarter, Corning is projecting core sales of between $3 billion and $3.2 billion, up 24% at the midpoint from $2.5 billion a year ago. The company sees non-GAAP profits of 40 to 44 cents a share, up from 20 cents a year ago, and ahead of the Street consensus at 39 cents.
“We gained sales-growth momentum, expanded margins in the second half, and generated significant free cash flow,” CEO Wendell Weeks said in a statement.
Despite what appears to be a strong quarter, Corning shares fell 3.3% to $35.94 in recent trading, though it wasn’t immediately clear why. In comparison, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1%.
In the quarter, the company saw 6% sales growth in display technologies (glass used for flat-panel TVs and computer monitors) to $841 million. “Retail demand for TV and IT products remains strong,” the company said. “Demand for large-size TVs continues to grow—75-inch sets were up more than 60% for the full year.” The company notes that it is expanding production at new facilities in Wuhan and Guangzhou to meet customer demand.
Sales for the optical communications segment, which provides fiber optic cable, grew 8% to $976 million. The environmental technologies segment, which makes filters used in automotive-pollution-control systems, saw sales increase 19% to $445 million. Sales of specialty materials, including cover glass for mobile phones, were $545 million, up 20%. The life sciences segment, including vaccine vials, had sales of $274 million, up 7%.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
