# Corning (GLW.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/GLW

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:28:48.826Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $138.43 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $26.30 per share, central $35.39 per share, high $41.08 per share. Buy at or below the central value $35.39 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:28:48.826Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 4.7% at the stated quote. About 4.7% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: pass

- 2 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 2

- Years with a net loss: 1

- Operating margin variation: 0.33×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.16×

- FY2018: 0.14×

- FY2019: 0.11×

- FY2020: 0.05×

- FY2021: 0.15×

- FY2022: 0.10×

- FY2023: 0.07×

- FY2024: 0.09×

- FY2025: 0.15×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.15×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 7.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 5.6%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -0.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 35.2%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 35.3%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 11.5%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 5.6%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 7.2%

- FY2018: 7.2%

- FY2019: 6.1%

- FY2020: 2.5%

- FY2021: 10.8%

- FY2022: 7.0%

- FY2023: 5.6%

- FY2024: 5.6%

- FY2025: 11.0%

- LTM to Jun 2026: 13.3%

### economics: pass

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 1.07×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $6.3B

- Net income, five-year total: $5.9B

- Return on incremental invested capital: 20.8%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 2.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 24.5%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2022: 0.99×

- FY2023: 0.96×

- FY2024: 1.76×

- FY2025: 1.04×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 1.00×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 7.2% vs 5.6%

- Per-share earnings: 1.00 to 0.68 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -4.2%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 2.4%

- Market cap gain: $48B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$329M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -4.2%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 2.4%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: -4.7%

- Per-share value change: -$0.32

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $1.00

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $0.68

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.37

- Average buyback yield: 4.2%

- Buyback history: 10 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $1.8B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $12B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 7.2%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 5.6%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $3.23

- FY2017: -$0.56

- FY2018: $1.13

- FY2019: $1.07

- FY2020: $0.66

- FY2021: $2.26

- FY2022: $1.54

- FY2023: $0.68

- FY2024: $0.58

- FY2025: $1.83

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -3.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.14×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 10.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 1.69×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.27×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 4.3%

- FY2017: -9.1%

- FY2018: -6.7%

- FY2019: -3.7%

- FY2020: -5.4%

- FY2021: -5.0%

- FY2022: -4.4%

- FY2023: -5.0%

- FY2024: -5.2%

- FY2025: -3.5%

## Holders

- [David Hoeft](https://gigainvestors.com/DAC): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Stephen Mandel](https://gigainvestors.com/LPC): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Andrew Adams](https://gigainvestors.com/MPF): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Lee Ainslie](https://gigainvestors.com/mc): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 46% since Jun 2026 · "Corning Capacity Limits, Smartphone Slump Weigh on Outlook" (finance.yahoo.com, Jul 2026) · sales +8.5%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:49.693Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 24% a year for ten years

- 2025-07-29: Corning (GLW) Reports Strong Q2 Results With US$3.9 Billion Sales and Solid Earnings Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corning-glw-reports-strong-q2-172849002.html))

- 2025-09-02: Corning Set to Benefit From AI-Driven Fiber Demand, UBS Says ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corning-set-benefit-ai-driven-151503331.html))

- 2026-02-04: Corning Ties Meta Deal And Project Vault To AI Data Center Growth ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corning-ties-meta-deal-project-162014905.html))

- 2026-04-28: Corning Q1 2026 earnings beat on AI fiber, hyperscale deals ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/corning-q1-2026-earnings-beat-132031324.html))

- 2026-06-08: Corning Lands Multibillion-Dollar Amazon Deal as Data Center Fiber Demand Surges ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/corning-lands-multibillion-dollar-amazon-201635474.html))

- 2026-07-28: Corning Shares Slide Despite Second-Quarter Earnings Beat as Guidance Disappoints ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/corning-shares-slide-despite-second-122109735.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +8.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-12.

- FY2017: $10B 

- FY2018: $11B 

- FY2019: $12B 

- FY2020: $11B 

- FY2021: $14B 

- FY2022: $14B 

- FY2023: $13B 

- FY2024: $13B 

- FY2025: $16B 

- FY2026: $17B 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 36.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-12.

- FY2017: 39.7% 

- FY2018: 39.5% 

- FY2019: 35.1% 

- FY2020: 31.2% 

- FY2021: 36.0% 

- FY2022: 31.8% 

- FY2023: 31.2% 

- FY2024: 32.6% 

- FY2025: 35.3% 

- FY2026: 36.3% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in electronic components; annual sales are USD 15.6 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-12); FY2025: revenue 15629000000; grossProfit 5514000000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); GLW.US: Corning Incorporated operates in optical communications, display, specialty materials, automotive, and life sciences businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company provides optical fibers and cables; and hardware and equipment products, such as cable assemblies, fiber optic hardware and connectors, optical components and couplers, closures, network interface devices, and other accessories for the telecommunications industry, businesses, governments, and individuals. It also offers glass substrates for flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes that are used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices. In addition, it manufactures products that offer material formulations for glass, glass ceramics, crystals, precision metrology instruments, and software, as well as glass wafers and substrates, tinted sunglasses, and radiation shielding products for markets, such as mobile consumer electronics, semiconductor equipment optics and consumables, aerospace and defense optics, radiation shielding products, sunglasses, and telecommunications components. Further, the company provides ceramic substrates and filter products for emissions control in mobile, gasoline, and diesel applications, as well as technical glass and optic products and solutions for the interior and exterior of vehicles. Additionally, it offers laboratory products, including plastic vessels, liquid handling plastics, specialty surfaces, cell culture media, and serum, as well as general labware, and glassware and equipment under the Corning, Falcon, PYREX, and Axygen brands. It also offers polysilicon products and pharmaceutical glass tubing and vials. The company was formerly known as Corning Glass Works and changed its name to Corning Incorporated in April 1989. Corning Incorporated was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Corning, New York.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 31.2% to 35.3% during 2023–25; it earns 7.1% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 31.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 32.6%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-12); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 35.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); 10-year return on capital observations [[2017,0.07151535605804928],[2018,0.07207341559219775],[2019,0.06140873326854958],[2020,0.024861012508540344],[2021,0.10803249539806081],[2022,0.07037490572273586],[2023,0.056059460821365585],[2024,0.05642973267094408],[2025,0.10984462265850582],[2026,0.13337570239936647]]; median 0.07094513089039256. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years; bought back USD 163 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 1109000000; owner earnings 3781000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2018: growth capex 949000000; upkeep 1293000000; owner earnings 1066000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.8902439024390244.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2019: growth capex 288084821.5391569; upkeep 1698915178.460843; owner earnings 764084821.5391569. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.37703251447770514.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 1377000000; owner earnings 655000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2021: growth capex 156000000; upkeep 1481000000; owner earnings 1906000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.08184679958027283.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2022: growth capex 137453311.44212818; upkeep 1466546688.5578718; owner earnings 1301453311.4421282. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.10561524584375405.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 1390000000; owner earnings 560000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 965000000; owner earnings 891000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-12); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 1282000000; owner earnings 1661000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); Dividend observations: [[2016,645000000],[2017,651000000],[2018,685000000],[2019,742000000],[2020,787000000],[2021,871000000],[2022,932000000],[2023,989000000],[2024,986000000],[2025,999000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-12); FY2025: cash repurchases 163000000 USD.

### What could break it

"We have significant exposure to foreign currency movements" (SEC filing, Feb 2026)

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-12); We have significant exposure to foreign currency movements

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 24% yearly over ten years; actual growth was 7.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-12); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.33809169994467536. Price 138.43; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 0.9478778853313478 → FY2025 1.907003444316877. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $22.71 per share

- 2016-11: $24.03 per share

- 2016-12: $24.27 per share

- 2017-01: $26.49 per share

- 2017-02: $27.61 per share

- 2017-03: $27.00 per share

- 2017-04: $28.85 per share

- 2017-05: $29.10 per share

- 2017-06: $30.05 per share

- 2017-07: $29.14 per share

- 2017-08: $28.76 per share

- 2017-09: $29.92 per share

- 2017-10: $31.31 per share

- 2017-11: $32.39 per share

- 2017-12: $31.99 per share

- 2018-01: $31.22 per share

- 2018-02: $29.08 per share

- 2018-03: $27.88 per share

- 2018-04: $27.02 per share

- 2018-05: $27.17 per share

- 2018-06: $27.51 per share

- 2018-07: $33.18 per share

- 2018-08: $33.51 per share

- 2018-09: $35.30 per share

- 2018-10: $31.95 per share

- 2018-11: $32.22 per share

- 2018-12: $30.21 per share

- 2019-01: $33.26 per share

- 2019-02: $34.81 per share

- 2019-03: $33.10 per share

- 2019-04: $31.85 per share

- 2019-05: $28.84 per share

- 2019-06: $33.23 per share

- 2019-07: $30.75 per share

- 2019-08: $27.85 per share

- 2019-09: $28.52 per share

- 2019-10: $29.63 per share

- 2019-11: $29.04 per share

- 2019-12: $29.11 per share

- 2020-01: $26.69 per share

- 2020-02: $23.86 per share

- 2020-03: $20.54 per share

- 2020-04: $22.01 per share

- 2020-05: $22.79 per share

- 2020-06: $25.90 per share

- 2020-07: $31.00 per share

- 2020-08: $32.46 per share

- 2020-09: $32.41 per share

- 2020-10: $31.97 per share

- 2020-11: $37.42 per share

- 2020-12: $36.00 per share

- 2021-01: $35.87 per share

- 2021-02: $38.24 per share

- 2021-03: $43.51 per share

- 2021-04: $44.21 per share

- 2021-05: $43.63 per share

- 2021-06: $40.90 per share

- 2021-07: $41.86 per share

- 2021-08: $39.99 per share

- 2021-09: $36.49 per share

- 2021-10: $35.57 per share

- 2021-11: $37.09 per share

- 2021-12: $37.23 per share

- 2022-01: $42.04 per share

- 2022-02: $40.40 per share

- 2022-03: $36.91 per share

- 2022-04: $35.19 per share

- 2022-05: $35.82 per share

- 2022-06: $31.51 per share

- 2022-07: $36.76 per share

- 2022-08: $34.32 per share

- 2022-09: $29.02 per share

- 2022-10: $32.17 per share

- 2022-11: $34.13 per share

- 2022-12: $31.94 per share

- 2023-01: $34.61 per share

- 2023-02: $33.95 per share

- 2023-03: $35.28 per share

- 2023-04: $33.22 per share

- 2023-05: $30.81 per share

- 2023-06: $35.04 per share

- 2023-07: $33.94 per share

- 2023-08: $32.82 per share

- 2023-09: $30.47 per share

- 2023-10: $26.76 per share

- 2023-11: $28.49 per share

- 2023-12: $30.45 per share

- 2024-01: $32.49 per share

- 2024-02: $32.24 per share

- 2024-03: $32.96 per share

- 2024-04: $33.38 per share

- 2024-05: $37.26 per share

- 2024-06: $38.85 per share

- 2024-07: $40.01 per share

- 2024-08: $41.85 per share

- 2024-09: $45.15 per share

- 2024-10: $47.59 per share

- 2024-11: $48.67 per share

- 2024-12: $47.52 per share

- 2025-01: $52.08 per share

- 2025-02: $50.15 per share

- 2025-03: $45.78 per share

- 2025-04: $44.38 per share

- 2025-05: $49.59 per share

- 2025-06: $52.59 per share

- 2025-07: $63.24 per share

- 2025-08: $67.03 per share

- 2025-09: $82.03 per share

- 2025-10: $89.08 per share

- 2025-11: $84.20 per share

- 2025-12: $87.56 per share

- 2026-01: $103.25 per share

- 2026-02: $150.38 per share

- 2026-03: $135.97 per share

- 2026-04: $164.24 per share

- 2026-05: $181.16 per share

- 2026-06: $255.43 per share

- 2026-07: $138.25 per share

- 2026-08: $148.73 per share

- 2026-09: $153.76 per share

- 2026-10: $148.54 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $30.16 per share, central $38.37 per share, high $44.15 per share

- FY2017: low $35.63 per share, central $40.29 per share, high $46.07 per share

- FY2018: low $20.59 per share, central $23.11 per share, high $26.48 per share

- FY2019: low $15.66 per share, central $17.48 per share, high $19.90 per share

- FY2020: low $13.80 per share, central $15.26 per share, high $17.22 per share

- FY2021: low $14.94 per share, central $17.47 per share, high $19.99 per share

- FY2022: low $18.75 per share, central $21.77 per share, high $25.07 per share

- FY2023: low $12.42 per share, central $13.88 per share, high $15.84 per share

- FY2024: low $12.94 per share, central $14.48 per share, high $16.54 per share

- FY2025: low $23.07 per share, central $31.35 per share, high $36.53 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:34:31.200Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/24741/000002474126000124/glw-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-12.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.