Corning earnings: third quarter 2026

Corning's sales on its own adjusted (core) basis rose 19% to $5.08 billion in the third quarter of 2026, which it calls its strongest sales growth since its Springboard plan began. Core earnings per share rose faster, by 36% to $0.91. The growth came mainly from Optical Communications, while Glass Innovations shrank and Solar still lost money. Cash flow was strong, even with much heavier spending on factories. For the fourth quarter, Corning expects about the same pace of growth again. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Corning's own core earnings per share of $0.91 were 2 cents above the $0.89 analysts expected on average (five forecasts, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar). On the standard accounting basis, earnings per share were $0.78, below that figure. Corning says the gap between the two mainly reflects currency hedges and tax items. ¹²

The strong points

• Profit per share on Corning's own adjusted basis grew 36%, nearly twice as fast as sales, so more of each sales dollar turned into profit. ¹
• After paying for its factories, Corning was left with $661 million of cash in the quarter on its own adjusted measure. ¹
• Cash on hand rose to about $2.5 billion from about $1.5 billion at the end of 2025, with no extra borrowing. ¹

The weak points

• Solar sales rose, but the business again lost money, $7 million, and Corning says it is ramping up production more slowly than it expected. ¹
• Spending on factories and equipment rose to $545 million in the quarter from $334 million a year ago, much faster than sales. ¹
• Unsold goods piled up to about $3.6 billion, up from about $3.1 billion at the end of 2025. ¹

What the company expects

• For the fourth quarter, Corning expects core sales of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion, about 19% more than a year earlier. ¹
• It also expects core earnings per share of $0.96 to $1.00 in the fourth quarter, about 36% more than a year earlier. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. A strong quarter, with fast growth in sales and faster growth in profit per share, strong cash flow and a fourth-quarter outlook of the same pace; it falls short of very strong only because the release does not say the outlook was raised, and because Solar is behind plan.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Corning's results release, 27 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 27 October 2026. ↩