Corning Inc. reaffirmed its 3Q 2004 revenue and earnings guidance and said it sees robust demand for its LCD glass substrates.
Before items, Corning expects to earn between USD 0.10 and USD 0.12 a s…
Corning Inc. reaffirmed its 3Q 2004 revenue and earnings guidance and said it sees robust demand for its LCD glass substrates. Before items, Corning expects to earn between USD 0.10 and USD 0.12 a share in the 3Q, 2004 in line with its July forecast. Corning, which makes optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecom industry, continues to project revenue of USD 950 million to USD 1 billion for the quarter. Wall Streets expects revenue of USD 974 million. In the 3Q 2003, Corning earned USD 0.02 a share on sales of USD 772 million. Corning said demand from its LCD customers for its glass remains strong and and the volume gain in July and August 2004 was up 75% on the year-ago figure. However, the company cut its outlook for LCD sequential volume growth due to the need for earlier-than-expected maintenance on one LCD glass melting tank. The company now expects sequential volume growth to be between 5% and 10%, against its previous guidance of about 10%. “However, we are entering into the traditionally strong season for consumer electronic purchases with expected lower retail prices, which should continue to support overall market growth,” Wendell P. Weeks, president and chief operating officer said in a statement. Corning now expects to see a sequential increase of 5% to 15% in optical fiber volume in the 3Q 2004, attributing the improved fiber performance to the result of unexpected strength in the North American fiber market. However, the company said its 3Q 2004 improvements in the optical fiber business do not signal a recovery in the optical fiber market. “The optical fiber market continues to have depressed pricing, few premium fiber network builds and general oversupply three years after the downturn in the telecommunications industry,” Weeks said in a statement. Corning said it is also seeing some 3Q 2004 volume improvement as a result of Verizon“s fiber-to-the-premises project.