Glass and electronic component manufacturer Corning (NYSE: GLW) fell short of the markets revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 8.8% year on year to $4.22 billion. Next quarter’s revenue guidance of $4.25 billion underwhelmed, coming in 0.5% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.72 per share was 2.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Supplying windows for some of the United States’s earliest spacecraft, Corning (NYSE: GLW) provides glass and other electronic components for the consumer electronics, telecommunications, automotive, and healthcare industries.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Unfortunately, Corning’s 7.2% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was mediocre. This was below our standard for the industrials sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Corning’s annualized revenue growth of 9.3% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated.

Corning also breaks out the revenue for its most important segments, Optical Communications and Display Technologies, which are 40.4% and 22.7% of revenue. Over the last two years, Corning’s Optical Communications revenue (optical fiber & cables) averaged 27.2% year-on-year growth while its Display Technologies revenue (glass for flat panel displays) averaged 2.9% growth.

This quarter, Corning’s revenue grew by 8.8% year on year to $4.22 billion, missing Wall Street’s estimates. Company management is currently guiding for a 15.5% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.

Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 14.1% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is eye-popping for a company of its scale and implies its newer products and services will fuel better top-line performance.

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Operating Margin

Corning’s operating margin has risen over the last 12 months and averaged 10.7% over the last five years. Its solid profitability for an industrials business shows it’s an efficient company that manages its expenses effectively. This result isn’t surprising as its high gross margin gives it a favorable starting point.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, Corning’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly but has generally stayed the same over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

This quarter, Corning generated an operating margin profit margin of 15.9%, up 5.8 percentage points year on year. The increase was solid, and because its gross margin actually decreased, we can assume it was more efficient because its operating expenses like marketing, R&D, and administrative overhead grew slower than its revenue.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Corning’s EPS grew at a remarkable 12.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 7.2% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

We can take a deeper look into Corning’s earnings to better understand the drivers of its performance. A five-year view shows that Corning has repurchased its stock, shrinking its share count by 2.9%. This tells us its EPS outperformed its revenue not because of increased operational efficiency but financial engineering, as buybacks boost per share earnings.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.

For Corning, its two-year annual EPS growth of 22% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings growth accelerates, especially when it accelerates off an already high base.

In Q4, Corning reported adjusted EPS of $0.72, up from $0.57 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 2.1%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Corning’s full-year EPS of $2.53 to grow 22.3%.

Key Takeaways from Corning’s Q4 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Corning blew past analysts’ Display Technologies revenue expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its revenue missed and its EBITDA fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock traded down 3.4% to $106.25 immediately following the results.

Corning didn’t show it’s best hand this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to buy the stock right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).