Corning tops third-quarter estimates as fiber sales for AI data centers rise 44%

Corning reported third-quarter results on Oct 27 that beat analysts' estimates. Sales of its optical fiber, cable and connectors rose 44% to $2.38 billion, helped by demand from AI data centers.

The glass maker also expects about $2 billion of capital spending in 2026, mostly to add fiber capacity. It forecast fourth-quarter sales and profit above analysts' forecasts.

The quarter

Core sales, Corning's adjusted measure, rose 19% from a year earlier to $5.08 billion, against estimates of $5.03 billion. Core earnings per share rose 36% to $0.91, against estimates of $0.88.

Under standard accounting rules, sales were $4.86 billion, up 18%, and earnings per share were $0.78. StockStory compared the $4.86 billion with an S&P consensus of $5.05 billion and counted it as a revenue miss.

Fiber and AI demand

Optical Communications made up almost half of Corning's sales in the quarter. Its enterprise networks unit, which sells to businesses including data centers run by cloud and AI companies, grew sales 84%. Sales of generative AI products more than doubled, and CEO Wendell Weeks said that growth outpaced GPU unit growth.

Corning said its display glass business is outperforming TV, notebook and smartphone markets that have been hit by memory chip pricing.

The spending

Corning invested more than $500 million in capital spending in the third quarter. On the earnings call, it put the 2026 total at about $2 billion, mainly for Optical Communications, according to Investing.com.

Adjusted free cash flow was $661 million in the quarter and $2.27 billion over the first nine months of 2026. Chief financial officer Ed Schlesinger said the added capacity is backed by long-term customer agreements that share the cost and risk of expansions.

The spending supports Corning's Springboard plan, which aims to double its annualized sales run rate from $20 billion to $40 billion by the end of 2030.

The share move

Early reports on the stock diverged on Oct 27. Investing.com reported a 2.97% premarket fall to $123.94 and linked it to concern that heavy investment weighs on near-term free cash flow. Stocktwits and GuruFocus reported gains of 2% to 3%.

Who is exposed

Corning signed four long-term, multibillion-dollar customer agreements in the third quarter, including with Verizon and AT&T. Stock Titan counts Meta among the companies that signed multiyear fiber deals with Corning in 2026.

What comes next

• Corning expects fourth-quarter core sales of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion, up about 19% from a year earlier.
• It expects fourth-quarter core earnings per share of $0.96 to $1.00, above the $0.93 analysts expected.
• Management is scheduled to appear at the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference on Dec 1.