Firms With Solid -- and Sorry -- Growth Plans

Corning(GLW Quote), which supplies the glass for screens to setmakers, certainly didn't escape the squeeze on prices as selling price for its glass tumbled in 2006. But the decline was a relatively less punishing 20%, according to Pacific Crest Securities, and that difference was enough to enable Corning to beat Wall Street estimates by 3 cents, or better than 10%, for the December 2006 quarter.

On Jan. 24, the company reported earnings of 31 cents a share, up from a 2-cents-a-share loss in the fourth quarter of 2005. Revenue climbed by 14%. Corning isn't out of the woods yet, since the first half of 2007 is likely to be weak because of typical seasonal weakness in the first quarter -- when Wall Street is looking for just 7% earnings growth -- and continued pressure on glass and TV set prices.

Indeed, the company cut its guidance for the first quarter of the year by a penny and predicted a 10% to 15% drop in display volumes. As of Jan. 31, I'm extending my target price of $28 from June to December 2007. (Full disclosure: I own shares of Corning in my personal portfolio.)