Corning Incorporated
GLW · NYSE
Next quarter
Expected to report Jan 27, 2027 — estimated from last year’s reporting date.
Consensus is $0.98 EPS for Dec 2026 across 4 estimates, ranging $0.97 to $0.98.
GLW Sep 2026
- 2.25%
- $0.89
- $0.91
- —
- $4.86B
Reported results
- $4.86B
- 37.28%
- $911.00M
- 18.76%
- $680.00M
- $0.78
Highlights
- Core growth: Q3 core sales rose 19% year over year to $5.081 billion, while core EPS increased 36% to $0.91, ahead of the $0.89 consensus.
- Margin gains: Core gross margin expanded 150 basis points to 40.5%, core operating margin rose 310 basis points to 22.7%, and core ROIC increased 330 basis points to 16.7%.
- Optical Communications: Sales grew 44% to $2.379 billion and net income rose 80% to $532 million; Enterprise Networks sales increased 84%, with Gen AI product sales more than doubling.
- Fourth-quarter outlook: Management expects core sales of $5.2 billion–$5.3 billion and core EPS of $0.96–$1.00, both implying approximately 19% and 36% year-over-year growth, respectively.
- Solar ramp: Sales rose 37% to $436 million, but the segment recorded a $7 million net loss as production ramped more slowly than anticipated.
- Cash and investment: Adjusted free cash flow was $661 million in Q3 and $2.272 billion for the first nine months, alongside $1.299 billion of year-to-date capital expenditures.
- Springboard milestone: Q3 sales represented a $20.3 billion annualized run rate; management targets $30 billion by year-end 2028 and $40 billion by year-end 2030.
- GAAP results: Sales were $4.855 billion, up 18% year over year and 8% sequentially; diluted EPS was $0.78 versus $0.50 a year ago and $0.64 in Q2.
Analysis
Corning’s Q3 showed the growth acceleration management has laid out in its Springboard plan, led by demand for optical networking products. Core sales of $5.081 billion grew 19% year over year and 7% sequentially; core EPS of $0.91 rose 36% year over year and topped the $0.89 consensus by 2.25%. GAAP sales were $4.855 billion, versus $4.100 billion a year ago and $4.505 billion in Q2. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.78, compared with $0.50 and $0.64, respectively. Core gross and operating margins reached 40.5% and 22.7%, up 150 and 310 basis points year over year.
Optical Communications was the clear engine: sales rose 44%, with Enterprise Networks up 84% and Gen AI product sales more than doubling. Solar added sales growth but remained a drag on profitability, with a $7 million loss as production ramped more slowly than planned. Cash generation remained strong despite investment: adjusted free cash flow was $661 million in the quarter, and $2.272 billion year to date after $1.299 billion of capital expenditures. Management expects Q4 core sales of $5.2 billion–$5.3 billion and core EPS of $0.96–$1.00, both implying faster growth than a year earlier. The quarter’s $20.3 billion annualized sales run rate puts Corning ahead of its $20 billion year-end 2026 Springboard milestone.
Optical Communications
- Segment results: Sales reached $2.379 billion, up 44% year over year and 15% sequentially; net income rose 80% to $532 million, a segment record.
- Enterprise demand: Enterprise Networks sales increased 84%, with Gen AI product sales more than doubling year over year. Management said the enterprise business has grown from a $1.4 billion run rate at Springboard’s launch to about $6 billion.
- Carrier opportunity: Carrier sales grew 4%. Corning cited long-term agreements with Zayo, Verizon and AT&T supporting fiber and connectivity expansions, and said its data-center-interconnect opportunity is now larger than its prior $1 billion target.
- Capacity and scale-up: Tight supply reflects strong demand for newer, high-density products as capacity comes online. Management remains convinced optical scale-up will begin accelerating in 2028; an all-optical scale-up architecture could raise fiber per GPU from roughly 16 to 160.
Growth and margins
- Core performance: Core sales of $5.081 billion rose 19% year over year and 7% sequentially; core net income increased 36% to $795 million and core EPS rose 36% to $0.91.
- Profitability: Core gross margin was 40.5%, up 150 basis points year over year, while core operating margin reached 22.7%, up 310 basis points. Core ROIC improved 330 basis points to 16.7%.
- GAAP comparison: GAAP sales of $4.855 billion were 18% above Q3 2025 and 8% above Q2 2026. Attributable net income was $680 million versus $430 million a year ago and $559 million in Q2; diluted EPS was $0.78 versus $0.50 and $0.64.
- Fourth-quarter guidance: Management forecasts core sales of $5.2 billion–$5.3 billion and core EPS of $0.96–$1.00, approximately 19% and 36% above Q4 2025. Optical is expected to provide the largest share of year-over-year growth.
Springboard and cash
- Run-rate progress: Q3 sales imply an annualized run rate of about $20.3 billion; management estimates the Q4 guidance midpoint would imply about $21 billion. Its plan targets $30 billion by year-end 2028 and $40 billion by year-end 2030.
- Investment and returns: Q3 capital expenditures were $545 million, and nine-month spending was $1.299 billion. Corning expects about $2 billion of capital expenditures in 2026, primarily to support Optical Communications.
- Cash generation: Adjusted free cash flow was $661 million in Q3, versus $535 million a year earlier, and $2.272 billion for the first nine months, versus $985 million in the comparable 2025 period.
- Customer funding: Management said long-term customer agreements help share capacity investment risk. Year-to-date customer deposits, net of cash returned as customers take committed volumes, were $639 million; the company reported four long-term, multibillion-dollar customer agreements in Q3.
Solar production ramp
- Segment results: Solar sales were $436 million, up 37% year over year, while the segment recorded a $7 million net loss, compared with $30 million of net income in Q3 2025.
- Ramp and outlook: Production at wafer and module facilities continued to increase, but more slowly than anticipated. Management said productivity improvements should gradually lift output and profitability, with the segment’s drag expected to improve slowly through 2027.
- Market conditions: Management said U.S. trade action under Section 232 improves pricing conditions and demand for U.S.-made solar products. Corning is working toward a solar revenue stream above $3 billion, with profitability above the corporate average over time.
Other businesses
- Glass Innovations: Sales declined 3% year over year to $1.506 billion and net income fell 10% to $328 million. Management said its “More Corning” content strategy helped it outperform markets affected by memory pricing; TV units were down 4%, while notebook and handheld units were down about 20%. Display-glass price adjustments begin taking effect in Q4, with more impact expected in 2027 and beyond.
- Automotive: Sales increased 4% to $470 million, while net income was $67 million, down 1% year over year. Recovery in North American Class 8 trucks more than offset weakness in light-duty vehicles, whose market was down 3%.
- Life Sciences and Emerging Growth: Sales were $290 million, up 1% year over year. The segment’s net loss widened to $28 million from $15 million, which management attributed to investment in emerging growth programs.
