Corning Sees Continued Weak Glass Market; Shares Tumble

Corning shares are trading sharply lower this morning following the company’s Q4 financial results, as the company provided some sobering commentary on the outlook for the LCD glass market, forecasting little growth ahead in the company’s core market.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported sales of $1.9 billion, down 9% sequentially, up 7% from a year ago, and roughly in line with the Street at $1.85 billion. Adjusted profits of 33 cents a share were in line with the Street.

The real issue was the company’s discussion of current conditions in the industry. And give the company credit for taking its usual thorough approach in laying out the situation, difficult though it may be. Among other things, Corning warned that prices will continue to fall rapidly, and that it does not expect any growth in the core display glass business over the next few years.

There was a hint of the current troubles yesterday in Apple’s spectacular December quarter results; Apple posted better-than-expected gross margins in part to lower-than-expected for components – including LCD displays.

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