Corning Inc.'s (GLW) third-quarter profit jumped 22% amid higher
sales and margins, but results just missed analysts'
expectations.
Looking ahead, Corning expects glass prices to fall by a
mid-single-digit range in the fourth quarter, more than previous
quarters due to ample supply. Somewhat of a glut has developed for
glass used in liquid crystal displays for TVs, computers and other
electronics.
Corning's revenue in that space, by far the company's largest
business, fell 5% from a year earlier in the third quarter as
volume fell by that amount. That glass business had been helping
the company's results grow strongly. It has positioned its
scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass, used in smartphone and tablet
computer screens, as the next growth driver.
Shares fell 1.5% premarket to $18.
Corning posted a profit of $785 million, or 50 cents a share, up
from $643 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding
items such as an asbestos liability-related charge and debt
buybacks, earnings rose to 51 cents from 42 cents as revenue
increased 8.3% to $1.6 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast
earnings of 52 cents on $1.61 billion in revenue.
Gross margin widened to 45.2% from 40.5% amid lower production
costs.
Telecommunications rose 3.1% while the specialty materials
segment had a 77% surge amid strong sales of Gorilla Glass and
advanced optics products.
-By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240;
matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com