Corning supplies Verizon with optical fiber

Significant investor attention is now focused on Corning (GLW) thanks to its three-year contract to supply Verizon (VZ) with millions of miles of optical fiber.

As reported by Rachel Gunter on the Market Realist, the Verizon order is worth $1.1 billion, but Corning isn’t getting its hands on the money immediately. It will start delivering the order in 2018 and finish in 2020.
In the meantime, though, Corning continues to give investors reasons to keep it in mind. The company blew past expectations in 1Q17 as it registered growth across all its segments. The numbers speak for themselves.

Corning operates several business segments, including Display Technologies, Optical Communications, and Specialty Materials. The Verizon deal falls in the Optical Communications segment, whose revenue rose 34% to $818 million in 1Q17 compared to 1Q16. 

When we see optical fiber network build-outs in North America as Internet providers such as Charter Communications (CHTR) and Comcast (CMCSA) upgrade their infrastructures, such activities are putting money in Corning’s pocket.

Display business challenging but promising
Corning’s Display Technologies segment serves the LCD (liquid crystal display) glass market. LCD glass is used in Smartphone and tablet screens, so this segment is affected by Smartphone demand. Smartphone shipments were weak in 2016, but growth in the market is expected to accelerate this year.

Corning’s Display Technologies revenue rose only 2.0% in 1Q17. Closely related to the Display Technologies segment is its Specialty Materials segment, in which Corning produces the premium display glass known as Gorilla Glass. Samsung (SSNLF) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google are some of the Smartphone vendors that have adopted Gorilla Glass in their latest handsets.