Corning Raises 2nd-quarter Glass Guidance

Its profit in the January-March quarter fell 99 percent on slumping sales. But adjusted earnings topped Wall Street expectations on a mid-quarter rebound in demand for super-thin LCD glass, which is used in televisions, computers and other flat-screen devices.

Analysts say unexpectedly strong consumer demand for LCD televisions is driving Corning's optimism. A month ago, it raised its estimate of glass sales to a range of 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion square feet in 2009 from 2 billion square feet in 2008.

LCD-TV sales in April in the United States rose 9 percent from a year earlier, according to market research firm NPD Group Inc. Corning expects global sales of LCD-TVs will grow 18 percent this year.

The 157-year-old company, based in the city of Corning in rural western New York, also makes optical fiber and cable and auto-pollution filters.

While LCD glass is its biggest business by far, Corning is investing heavily in other promising technologies, including green lasers to equip cell phones with projectors and mercury filters for coal plants.

___