Specialty glass and ceramic products manufacturer Corning Inc. (GLW: Quote) reported Wednesday a lower first-quarter profit, reflecting about 11 percent decline in sales in its Display Technologies segment. However, both earnings per share and revenues exceeded analysts' expectations. The shares rose more than 6 percent in the morning trade.
Looking ahead, Corning anticipate continued growth across four of its major business segments and a return to LCD glass revenue growth later this year in the Display segment. The company noted that after two successive quarters of significant LCD glass price declines, it expects price declines to be much more moderate in the second quarter.
Wendell Weeks, chairman, chief executive officer, and president of the company said, "Our overall business performance is on track with our expectations. First-quarter sales in our Telecommunications, Environmental Technologies, Life Sciences, and Specialty Materials business segments grew, and we continued making strategic investments to create new revenue streams for the company."
Sales in the Display Technologies segment were $705 million, down 11 percent from the prior year. LCD glass price declines were in line with its expectations, the company said.
Display Technologies' wholly owned business LCD glass volume increased about 10 percent from the year-ago quarter. The company expects stronger LCD glass volume growth later in the year, driven mainly by normal retail seasonality.
Corning sees continued demand for Corning Gorilla Glass for the hand-held and information technology markets.
In the first quarter, net income attributable to the company fell to $462 million or $0.30 per share from $748 million or $0.47 per share reported a year ago. On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.28 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net sales for the quarter were $1.92 billion, unchanged from last year, but exceeded analysts' estimate of $1.87 billion. Revenues increased 2 percent sequentially.
GLW is currently trading at $14.15, up $0.80 or 6.03 percent, on a volume of 8.14 million shares on the NYSE.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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