Corning Inc. (GLW) boosted its volume forecast for glass
shipments and sees further improvement in 2010 as the market for
liquid-crystal displays continues to grow.
Shares rose 1.5% premarket to $18.15. The stock through the
close was up 88% this year.
The company said ahead of an investor conference that global LCD
television sales rose 45% in October, the second-highest figure of
the year. Unit sales more than doubled in China, surged 73% in
Japan and climbed 28% in the U.S.
Chief Financial Officer James Flaws said, "Panel makers continue
to run at high utilization rates in the fourth quarter and glass
supply is very tight. We expect glass demand to remain this way
through the remainder of the quarter." As a result, Corning boosted
its glass-volume view to flat to up slightly from flat to down
slightly.
Corning sees the global glass market being closer to 2.4 billion
square feet this year, up from July's boosted view of 2.3 billion,
as the company now anticipates 2009 LCD TV sales of more than 132
million. Its previous estimate was 129 million.
Meanwhile, Flaws said Corning's telecommunications business,
anchored by fiber optic cable, is performing as planned in the
fourth quarter. The segment has been weaker around amid cutbacks in
telecom spending. He added the company's environmental-technologies
business is seeing higher-than-anticipated sales in automotive and
diesel products. The segment focuses on emission-control
products.
-By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2354;
kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com