Corning Incorporated (GLW) Earnings
Corning Incorporated is expected to report next earnings on August 4, 2026 (in NaN days), with a consensus EPS estimate of $0.76. GLW has beaten EPS estimates in 9 of its last 12 reported quarters (average surprise +2.2% over the last four).
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2026 | $0.69 | $0.70 | +1.2% | $4.3B | +1.1% |
| Jan 28, 2026 | $0.71 | $0.72 | +1.8% | $4.2B | -3.4% |
| Oct 28, 2025 | $0.67 | $0.67 | +0.8% | $4.1B | -3.1% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $0.57 | $0.60 | +5.1% | $3.9B | +0.2% |
| Jan 29, 2025 | $0.56 | $0.57 | +1.8% | $3.5B | -7.0% |
| Apr 30, 2024 | $0.35 | $0.38 | +8.0% | $3.0B | -4.6% |
| Jan 30, 2024 | $0.40 | $0.39 | -2.5% | $3.0B | -8.0% |
| Jul 25, 2023 | $0.46 | $0.45 | -2.2% | $3.2B | -6.8% |
| Jan 31, 2023 | $0.44 | $0.47 | +6.8% | $3.4B | -4.1% |
| Jul 26, 2022 | $0.56 | $0.57 | +1.8% | $3.6B | -4.3% |
| Jan 26, 2022 | $0.52 | $0.54 | +3.8% | $3.7B | +2.4% |
| Jul 27, 2021 | $0.51 | $0.53 | +3.9% | $3.5B | -3.7% |
Source: company filings + earnings calendar. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Earnings call summary
Q1 FY2026 · April 28, 2026
AI summary of management’s prepared remarks and analyst Q&A. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Management highlights
• Wendell Weeks announced excellent first quarter 2026 results with sales growing 18% to $4.35 billion, EPS growing 30% to 70 cents, operating margin expanding 220 basis points to 20.2%, etc. • Solar business saw 80% year-over-year sales growth, with progress in polysilicon, wafers, and modules. Polysilicon business performed above 20% corporate operating margin target in Q1, module business on track to cross over in Q2. • Optical communications had 36% year-over-year sales growth, with robust demand, multi-year agreements with Meta and other hyperscale customers, and growth in enterprise and carrier segments. • Announced changes to segment reporting effective Q1 2026, with solar now in its own segment, glass innovations combining display and specialty materials, etc. • Ed Schlesinger discussed operating expenses, second quarter guidance, capital allocation, and progress on Springboard plan.
Guidance
• Second quarter expected sales growth about 14% year over year to approximately $4.6 billion and EPS growth about 25% year over year to a range of 73 to 77 cents. • Second quarter forecast includes an additional $30 million of expense due to solar wafer plant extended maintenance shutdown. • Full year expected to generate significantly more free cash flow year over year while continuing to invest strongly in growth vectors aided by customer financial support. • Plan to upgrade and extend springboard plan through 2030 at May 6 investor event.
Segment performance
Optical Communications: Sales were $1.8 billion, up 36% year-over-year, driven by robust demand for GenAI products. Net income was $387 million, up 93% year-over-year. Both enterprise and carrier rose 36% year-over-year. Glass Innovations: First quarter sales were $1.4 billion, up 1% year over year. Net income was $324 million, up 7 million year over year. Net income margin was 22.8%. Display glass volume down slightly sequentially. Automotive: Q1 sales were $437 million, down 1% year-over-year. Net income of $70 million was up 2 million or 3% year-over-year. Solar: Sales were $370 million, up $164 million or 80% year over year. Net income was $7 million, down $20 million year over year. Sales and life sciences and emerging growth businesses were flat year over year.
Analyst Q&A
Q: On the new hyperscaler agreements, are there material glass fiber draw capacity expansions associated with that or maybe a different way?
A: These agreements are driving expansion across all major optical operations, including fiber operations, and aim to share risk with customers.
Q: When you complete and are fully ramped on solar, what would be the approximate breakdown between semiconductor wafers and modules?
A: Running at about a half-a-billion-dollar semiconductor business, remainder in solar space, primarily wafer and module.
Q: Characterize the state of supply-demand balance in the optical communications market.
A: Very robust demand for innovations, entering long-term agreements, seeking balanced coverage, and focusing on unique innovation and manufacturing rather than price increases.
Q: Can you break apart incremental margins in optical year over year as operating leverage versus price mix?
A: Large driver is impact of moving to new innovations, with margin going up from selling more solutions.
Q: Looking forward to long-term agreements with hyperscalers and model builders, are you able to raise prices over the long-term?
A: Focus on improving visibility, sharing risk, and adoption of new product types as key drivers to profitability and revenue growth.
Q: When should we expect the drag on solar expenses to be completed?
A: Sequentially get better over time, with exact timing hard to determine, but will improve once factory comes back online.
Q: Go back to comments on hyperscaler agreements and how to think about sharing risk.
A: Blend of tools to share risk, including funding, guaranteed revenue, price, etc., with different customers having different risk profiles.
Q: Carrier piece of the business, sense of fiber to the home plans increasing and gaining share.
A: Ascendancy of fiber to the home is driving numbers, with big carriers being public about decisions.
Q: Split between carrier and enterprise growth rates this quarter.
A: Both carrier and enterprise grew 36% year over year in Q1.
Q: Capital expenditure plan for the year.
A: CAPEX could be a little above $1.7 billion this year, with tools to share investment with customers and investment continuing into next year, to be shared more at May 6 event.