Corning (GLW.N), a manufacturer of specialty glass, issued a projection for fourth-quarter core sales on Tuesday that was below what the market was expecting. This comes as the company deals with a slowdown in demand for its optical fiber cables from the telecom industry.
Shares of Corning, the manufacturer of Gorilla Glass that is utilized by companies such as Apple (AAPL.O) and Samsung (005930. KS), dropped by roughly 4% before the opening bell.
According to the data provided by LSEG, the business anticipates core sales of around $3.25 billion for the three months leading up to December, compared to the analysts’ expectation of $3.56 billion.
Its core sales reached $3.46 billion in the third quarter, around a 6% decrease from the previous quarter’s total of $3.50 billion in projections.
The optical communications section, which is one of the primary income producers for Corning, suffered a fall in net sales of more than thirty percent.
“Our marketplaces continue to exhibit demand below trend lines,” stated CEO Wendell Weeks. ”
However, owing to the release of Apple’s new iPhone 15 series, sales from the business that deals in specialist materials, which includes the ubiquitous Gorilla Glass, increased by almost 8%.
According to findings from Counterpoint Research, the worldwide smartphone market experienced a decline of 8%, bringing it to its lowest level in the third quarter in a decade. This represents just a slight improvement from the previous quarter.
The business projected that its core earnings for the fourth quarter would be between 37 and 42 cents per share, lower than the projection of 50 cents per share.
It reported an adjusted profit of 45 cents per share for the quarter, falling short of analysts’ consensus forecast of 47 cents per share.
Corning has taken drastic measures to reduce its expenses and has increased its pricing by around 20% over the previous several quarters to contend with the weak demand and difficult economic conditions. In the third quarter, the company’s core gross margin reached 37%, reflecting an increase of 90 basis points year-on-year.
