Corning Says Its Glass Growth Has Cooled Off

Corning (GLW) says it will hit its fourth-quarter financial targets, but its big growth display glass business continues to cool off.

Shares of the technology glass maker fell 18 cents to $11.71 in early trading Tuesday.

Corning says it will post earnings of between 11 and 12 cents a share on $1 billion in sales. Previously, the company had expected to be in a profit range of 10 cents to 12 cents on sales somewhere between $950 million and $1 billion.

The company's biggest business, glass panels for liquid crystal displays, hit a bit of a speed bump last quarter when two Taiwan customers cut orders. Corning cut its LCD sales expectations from 10% sequential growth to somewhere between flat and up 3%.

Speaking at an investors conference in New York on Tuesday, CFO Jim Flaws shared a slightly optimistic take on the company's fiber-optic cable business. Flaws said that fourth-quarter fiber shipments were about even with the prior quarter, and better than the 5% to 10% seasonal decline the company had forecast.

The company expects to release its fourth-quarter earnings report after the market closes Jan. 25.

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