Corning Earnings: Good Results Fit Our Long-Term View for a Recovery; Shares Are Fairly Valued

We maintain our $35 fair value estimate for narrow-moat Corning after first-quarter results and second-quarter guidance came in line with our expectations and are consistent with our long-term recovery thesis. Corning’s demand continues to be weak across its end markets, especially optical fiber into carrier networks. We like management’s ability to streamline costs during a downturn, and we think the firm has good leverage to expand margins as demand returns. We continue to forecast a multiyear rebound for Corning’s sales, driven by renewed orders from telecom customers and rising data center sales, supplemented by AI orders. We see shares as fairly valued.