July 28 (Reuters) - Corning on Tuesday forecast third-quarter sales that fell slightly short of Wall Street expectations after reporting slower growth in its key fiber optics unit, sending its shares down more than 16% in premarket trading.
The company supplies optical fiber products that are crucial in data center development. The fast-growing fiber optics unit has helped Corning bolster business at a time when softer consumer electronics demand has hurt the segment that makes Gorilla glass.
Its shares
have risen about 64% so far this year after gaining 84.2% in 2025.
Here are some details:
• Sales in Corning's Optical Communications segment rose 32% to $2.07 billion, compared with 36% growth in the prior quarter. The growth rate was also below the 81% increase recorded in the year-earlier period.
• Corning said demand for products used in generative AI infrastructure continued to accelerate, helping offset more muted growth in some of its other businesses.
• Sales in the Solar segment nearly doubled to $438 million, although the business reported a quarterly loss following a maintenance shutdown and equipment upgrade. The company expects profitability to improve in the third quarter.
• Corning, a key supplier to Apple, has been hurt by softer global smartphone demand, which has weighed on volumes for its specialty glass products, particularly in display technologies.
• Corning forecast third-quarter core sales of $4.9 billion to $5.0 billion and adjusted EPS of 85 cents to 89 cents, implying year-over-year growth of about 16% and 28%, respectively.
• Corning reported second-quarter revenue of $4.74 billion, compared with analysts' estimate of $4.61 billion, according to LSEG data
• During the quarter, Corning expanded its AI infrastructure push through new partnerships with Amazon and Nvidia.
(Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
