What Happened?
Shares of glass and electronic component manufacturer Corning (NYSE:GLW) fell 5% in the morning session after the company reported third-quarter results that failed to impress investors, even though headline numbers met or slightly beat expectations.
Corning's adjusted earnings of $0.67 per share and revenue of $4.1 billion were in line with what analysts had forecast. However, a closer look at the results revealed areas of concern. The company's Adjusted EBITDA, a measure of profitability, came in at $998 million, missing analyst estimates by 13.4%. Additionally, its free cash flow margin, which indicates how much cash a company generates from its sales, dropped to 11% from 16.3% in the same quarter last year. The market's negative reaction suggested investors were focused on the weaker underlying profitability and cash generation, leading to a sell-off despite the in-line headline figures.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Corning? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Corning’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 15 days ago when the stock gained 4% on the news that a softened tone from President Donald Trump on U.S.-China relations boosted investor sentiment. The positive shift followed a weekend post on Truth Social where Trump stated, "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!" and expressed a desire to help rather than hurt the country's economy. This statement provided significant relief to markets that had ended the prior week with steep losses. In response, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.2%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3% higher, as investors' fears of escalating trade tensions subsided.
Corning is up 86% since the beginning of the year, and at $86.86 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $89.37 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Corning’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,737.
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