Based in Corning, New York, Corning Incorporated (GLW) is a global materials science and technology company. Founded in 1851, it develops and manufactures specialized glass, ceramics, and optical products for telecommunications, consumer electronics, automotive, life sciences, and industrial applications. The company has a market capitalization of $102.3 billion.
Shares of this materials science and technology giant have outpaced the broader market over the past year. GLW has posted an 18.8% gain during this period, compared with a nearly 8.2% advance in the S&P 500 Index ($SPX). The stock has maintained its upward momentum in 2026, climbing 18.1% year-to-date, while the index has gained 7.4% over the same period.
More Top Stocks Daily: Go behind Wall Street’s hottest headlines with Barchart’s Active Investor newsletter.
Narrowing the comparison, GLW has also outperformed the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which has gained 10% over the past year and 12.8% year-to-date.
www.barchart.com On Oct. 27, Corning Incorporated reported its Q3 2026 results, exceeding its own guidance as core sales increased 18.9% year over year to $5.08 billion and core EPS rose 35.8% to $0.91. Optical Communications led the growth, with sales surging 44% to $2.38 billion, driven in part by 84% growth in Enterprise Networks as GenAI product sales more than doubled. Solar sales also increased 36.7% to $436 million, while Glass Innovations sales declined 3.5% to $1.51 billion. Core gross margin expanded 150 basis points to 40.5%, and core operating margin increased 310 basis points to 22.7%.
Looking ahead, Corning expects fourth-quarter 2026 core sales of $5.20 billion to $5.30 billion, representing approximately 19% year-over-year growth, and core EPS of $0.96 to $1.00, up approximately 36%. During the quarter, the company also secured four long-term, multibillion-dollar customer agreements, including with Verizon and AT&T. These agreements support its capacity expansion plans under the 20-30-40 Springboard strategy. Following the earnings announcement, GLW shares rose 3.9% in the next trading session.
For the current fiscal year, ending in December 2026, analysts expect GLW’s diluted EPS to increase 34.1% to $3.38. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history, having met or exceeded Wall Street’s consensus EPS estimates in each of the past four quarters.
Among the 16 analysts covering GLW, the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” based on 11 “Strong Buy” and five “Hold” ratings.
www.barchart.com The analyst configuration is more bullish than it was a month ago, when GLW had 10 “Strong Buy” recommendations.
On Oct. 29, 2026, J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Cardoso maintained a “Hold” rating on Corning Incorporated and reiterated his price target of $165.
The mean analyst price target of $176.06 implies 70.2% upside from GLW’s current share price, while the Street-high target of $220 suggests an upside potential of 112.7%.
On the date of publication, Abhishek Bhuyan did not directly have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
More news from Barchart
This Insurance Stock Just Raised Its Dividend by Over 11% This Could be a Major Problem for Alphabet Investors Uber Technologies Delivers Strong FCF - What's the Best UBER Play? Apple Flagged Supply Constraints and Rising Memory Costs Ahead of Its December Quarter. Here’s What to Know.