# GLW Release review · Q3 2026

> Corning reported. Sales $4.86B vs our $4.81B, beat +1.0%. Adjusted EPS $0.91 vs our $0.89, beat +2¢. After the call we forecast again.

Canonical: https://pricedin.markets/glw/fq3-2026/result/

Tuesday 27 October, 07:01 ET · released

Corning reported. Sales $4.86B vs our $4.81B, beat +1.0%. Adjusted EPS $0.91 vs our $0.89, beat +2¢. After the call we forecast again.

[After the call →](https://pricedin.markets/glw/fq3-2026/after-call/)

GLW · Q3 2026 results · release accepted 2026-10-27 07:01:54 ET

## The quarter against our forecast

Q3 2026 sales **$4.86B** our forecast $4.81B · +1.0%

adjusted EPS **$0.91** our forecast $0.89 · +2¢

#### Q3 2026 line by line, as the income statement shows it

| Line | Outlook | Our forecast | Reported | Against our forecast |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Net sales | — | $4.81B | $4.86B | +1.0% beat |
| Total: Segment net sales | — | $5.04B | — | with the 10-Q |
| Adjustment for hedged exposures (1) | — | −$235M | — | with the 10-Q |
| Cost of sales | — | $3.02B | $3.04B | +0.7% miss |
| Gross margin | — | $1.78B | $1.81B | +1.4% beat |
| Gross margin | — | 37.1% | 37.3% | +0.2 pt beat |
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | — | $628M | $563M | −10.3% beat |
| Research, development and engineering expenses | — | $307M | $314M | +2.3% miss |
| Amortization of purchased intangibles | — | $22.7M | $22.0M | −2.9% beat |
| Operating income | — | $828M | $911M | +10.0% beat |
| Operating margin | — | 17.2% | 18.8% | +1.5 pt beat |
| Interest income | — | $12.5M | $17.0M | +36.0% beat |
| Interest expense | — | $95.0M | $87.0M | −8.4% beat |
| Translated earnings contract gain, net | — | $60.0M | — | with the 10-Q |
| Other expense, net | — | −$48.5M | −$11.0M | −77.3% beat |
| Income before income taxes | — | $757M | $968M | +27.9% beat |
| Provision for income taxes (Note 11) | — | $127M | $222M | +74.7% miss |
| Tax rate | — | 16.8% | 22.9% | +6.1 pt miss |
| Net income | — | $630M | $746M | +18.5% beat |
| Net income attributable to non-controlling interest | — | $52.3M | $66.0M | +26.1% miss |
| Net income attributable to Corning Incorporated | — | $577M | $680M | +17.8% beat |
| Weighted-average common shares outstanding - diluted | — | 0.88B | — | with the 10-Q |
| Adjusted EPS | — | $0.89 | $0.91 | +2¢ beat |

Our forecast was frozen before the release: the average of 6 models as of 2026-10-25 05:38:20 ET. Each reported number is quoted from the release; the 10-Q's tagged facts confirm the statement's lines when it is filed. Read before our lock: the SEC lists the release in its index that night, and the next check confirms its bytes. A cost above our forecast is a miss.

#### Why adjusted EPS differs: $0.91 against our $0.89

Sales, at the forecast's gross margin −6.8¢

Gross margin −16.7¢

Selling, general and administrative expenses +4.8¢

Research, development and engineering expenses −1.5¢

Amortization of purchased intangibles −2.1¢

Interest income +0.5¢

Interest expense +0.9¢

Other expense, net +1.9¢

Provision for income taxes (Note 11) −7.5¢

Net income attributable to non-controlling interest −1.5¢

Adjustment for hedged exposures +24.6¢

Translation loss on foreign denominated debt, net +0.5¢

Translated earnings contract gain, net −15.7¢

Restructuring, impairment and other charges and credits +0.9¢

Pension mark-to-market adjustment −0.3¢

Loss on investments +0.5¢

Litigation, regulatory and other legal matters −0.1¢

Tax on the adjustments, the share count and rounding +19.3¢

Total +1.5¢

Like for like: each line as reported against ours, with each of the company's adjustments on the line it adjusts and ours on ours. The last bar is what remains: the tax on the adjustments, the share count and rounding.

#### Why the quarter differed from our forecast

##### Gross margin −17¢

**What we assumed** The models expected third-quarter GAAP gross margin near 37%, taking about $235M of hedge adjustment off core sales near the guide's top. “I convert the company's core-sales guidance to GAAP net sales by subtracting about $235 million in the third quarter” glm

**What the company printed** Corning printed third-quarter GAAP gross margin of 37.3%, on sales above the forecasts. “As reported - GAAP $ 1,810 37.3 % $ 563 $ 314 $ 911 18.8 %”

**Known before our cutoff?** Yes: September 9 conference talk: the finance chief said third-quarter sales were at the high end of guidance or slightly better. “And deals like this really underpin our success and our ability to deliver those numbers. They give us more confidence in our ability to do that. We're not going to upgrade the $30 billion or the $40 billion today, but we'll certainly come back and share our views on how those things are playing out over time. But we do expect to deliver the $20 billion a quarter early here in the third quarter. And if you take that math and you compare it to the guidance we gave back in July, it means we're at the high end or slightly better than the sales guidance that we gave back in July.”

##### Translated earnings contract gain, net −16¢

**What we assumed** The forecasts treated the currency hedge gain as a swing item they could not forecast, and carried a modest amount. “translated-earnings contract gains, discrete tax items, pension marks - swing GAAP EPS by a dime or more a quarter in ways I cannot forecast” glm

**What the company printed** Corning booked a much larger translated earnings contract gain, then removed it from core EPS. “Translated earnings contract gain, net (3) (138) (106) (0.12)”

**Known before our cutoff?** No: Searched filings from July 29 to the cutoff; only second-quarter gains turned up, no third-quarter figure.

##### Provision for income taxes (Note 11) −7¢

**What we assumed** The models expected a GAAP tax rate near 17%, noting that discrete items make GAAP tax swing. “GAAP tax swings with discrete items” glm

**What the company printed** Corning printed a GAAP tax rate of 22.9%; discrete tax items were added back to core EPS. “As reported - GAAP $ 4,855 $ 968 $ 680 22.9 % $ 0.78”

**Known before our cutoff?** No: Searched filings from July 29 to the cutoff for discrete tax items; only second-quarter items turned up.

##### Selling, general and administrative expenses +5¢

No line written.

##### Amortization of purchased intangibles −2¢

No line written.

##### Other expense, net +2¢

No line written.

##### Net income attributable to non-controlling interest −2¢

No line written.

##### Research, development and engineering expenses −2¢

No line written.

##### Interest expense +1¢

No line written.

##### Interest income +1¢

No line written.

#### The company's new outlook

Q4 2026

Core sales core (non-GAAP) · Fourth quarter 2026 $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion “•In the fourth quarter, management expects to grow core sales approximately 19% year over year to a range of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion and grow core EPS approximately 36% year over year to a range of $0.96 to $1.00.”

Core EPS core (non-GAAP) · Fourth quarter 2026 $0.96 to $1.00 Our forecast $0.94: ours is 2¢ below the bottom of the range “•In the fourth quarter, management expects to grow core sales approximately 19% year over year to a range of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion and grow core EPS approximately 36% year over year to a range of $0.96 to $1.00.”

Core sales growth year over year core (non-GAAP) · Fourth quarter 2026 approximately 19% “•In the fourth quarter, management expects to grow core sales approximately 19% year over year to a range of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion and grow core EPS approximately 36% year over year to a range of $0.96 to $1.00.”

Core EPS growth year over year core (non-GAAP) · Fourth quarter 2026 approximately 36% “•In the fourth quarter, management expects to grow core sales approximately 19% year over year to a range of $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion and grow core EPS approximately 36% year over year to a range of $0.96 to $1.00.”

Our Q4 2026 forecast, made 2026-10-25 before this release sales $4.97B · adjusted EPS $0.94

Other periods

Annualized sales run rate (Springboard plan) annualized sales run rate · End of 2030 $40 billion “Ed Schlesinger, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said, “When we upgraded Springboard in May, we laid out a path to double our annualized sales run rate from $20 billion to $40 billion by the end of 2030. We also expect to grow earnings faster than sales, with significantly higher ROIC and substantially more free cash flow. To support that growth, we have steadily added capacity, backed by long-term customer agreements that share the cost and risk of expansions. As a result, we have been able to grow adjusted free cash flow to $2.27 billion through the first nine months of 2026 while investing to meet demand.””

Each item as the release prints it. Our forecast stands beside an item only when the item is one of our two numbers, for our quarter or year, in our unit.

#### The company's reasons, from the release

- **Optical Communications sales growth** “•Optical Communications continued to drive powerful growth, with Q3 sales up 44% to $2.38 billion; Enterprise Networks grew sales 84%, with Gen AI product sales growing more than 100% year over year.”
- **Solar sales growth and slower ramp** “•Solar grew sales 37% year over year, as production continued to ramp, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated. As productivity continues to improve, so will output and profitability. Additionally, in Q3, U.S. trade action under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 improves the overall pricing environment and demand for U.S.-made solar products. Overall, the company is making solid progress building a more than $3 billion Solar revenue stream.”
- **Glass Innovations outperforming its markets** “•Glass Innovations continued to successfully execute its “More Corning” content strategy, driving adoption of Corning innovations and outperforming TV unit, notebook, and smartphone markets, which have been impacted by memory pricing.”
- **Gen AI sales doubling from faster adoption** “Weeks continued, “We continue to successfully expand our content within customers’ ecosystems and outperform our underlying markets. For example, in Optical Communications, faster adoption of our innovations helped us double our Gen AI sales year over year in the quarter, outpacing GPU unit growth.””
- **Difference between GAAP and core EPS** “•GAAP EPS was $0.78, up 56% year over year. Core EPS was $0.91, up 36% year over year. The difference between GAAP and core EPS principally reflects adjustments for hedged exposures, along with discrete tax items. A complete quantitative reconciliation of these and other reconciling items appears in the tables accompanying this release.”