Summary
Corning Incorporated (GLW) announced its second-quarter 2004 financial results, reporting a significant sequential increase in both sales and net income. Sales grew 15% quarter-over-quarter to $971 million, driven by strong performance in the Telecommunications and Display Technologies segments. Net income more than doubled sequentially to $108 million, or $0.07 per share, benefiting from higher sales and improved equity earnings from associated companies. The company highlighted robust growth in its Display Technologies segment, with sales up 20% sequentially due to increased volume of liquid crystal display (LCD) glass, and stable pricing. The Telecommunications segment also showed improvement, with sales up 26% sequentially, driven by strong demand for fiber and cable, partly due to Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises build-out. Despite these positive trends, Corning anticipates a sequential decrease in fiber volume for the third quarter due to market seasonality and the impact of an anti-dumping ruling in China.
Key Highlights
- 1Second-quarter sales reached $971 million, a 15% increase from the prior quarter.
- 2Net income for the quarter was $108 million, or $0.07 per share, nearly doubling from the previous quarter.
- 3Display Technologies segment sales increased by 20% sequentially, driven by 22% volume growth in LCD glass.
- 4Telecommunications segment sales rose 26% sequentially, supported by strong demand for fiber and cable, including Verizon's FTTx deployment.
- 5Corning ended the quarter with $1.6 billion in cash and short-term investments, up from $1.5 billion in Q1, and reduced its debt-to-capital ratio to 31.2%.
- 6The company provided third-quarter guidance expecting sales between $950 million and $1 billion, with earnings per share of $0.10 to $0.12 (excluding special items).
- 7Corning is increasing its full-year capital spending estimate to $950 million - $1 billion to support LCD market growth and construction projects in Taiwan.