Corning earnings: guidance and what to watch
Corning’s next results are scheduled for October 27, 2026. Watch whether Corning’s growth becomes self-funding after capital spending.
What has Corning guided for 2026?
Management promises a $20 billion annualized sales run rate by year-end 2026. It then targets $30 billion by 2028. The longer-term target is $40 billion by 2030, while its high-confidence targets are lower. For the September 2026 quarter, management guides to core sales of $4,900–$5,000 million. Core EPS guidance is $0.85–$0.89. Capital spending is guided at about $2 billion in 2026.
| Period guided | Low | High | Date given | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital expenditures | Year to Dec 2026 | 2,000 | 2,000 | Jul 29, 2026 |
| Internal Springboard Plan annualized sales run rate | Year to Dec 2026 | 20,000 | 20,000 | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Core sales | Quarter to Sep 2026 | 4,900 | 5,000 | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Core EPS | Quarter to Sep 2026 | 0.85 | 0.89 | Jul 28, 2026 |
What this means. The Springboard Plan sales figure is an estimate of the yearly pace at the end of 2026, not the company's total sales for all of 2026.
Did Corning keep its past promise?
Corning also gave shareholders a dated promise. In September 2024, it set a target of 20% core operating margin by the end of 2026. It reached 20.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025, so the company delivered that upgraded profitability target early. That is evidence of execution, but it does not prove that every new manufacturing project will earn an attractive return.
What do Corning’s last eight quarters show?
Revenue reached $4,505 million, up 16.6% from the prior-year quarter. Operating margin improved from roughly 14.8% to 15.5%, while gross margin barely moved from 36.0% to 36.1%. That pattern says more of the improvement came below gross profit than from manufacturing margin alone.
Operating cash flow was $1,717 million, including the $1.0 billion customer advance. Without that advance, operating cash flow was $717 million. Free cash flow was $295 million after capital spending, below the reported figure. The quarter therefore confirms optical improvement, but not a cash rate that can be projected forward.
| Jun 2026 | Mar 2026 | Dec 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jun 2025 | Mar 2025 | Dec 2024 | Sep 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 4,505 | 4,144 | 4,215 | 4,100 | 3,862 | 3,452 | 3,501 | 3,391 |
| Operating income | 698 | 639 | 672 | 589 | 573 | 445 | 393 | 302 |
| Net income | 559 | 371 | 540 | 430 | 469 | 157 | 310 | -117 |
| EPS, diluted | 0.64 | 0.43 | 0.62 | 0.50 | 0.54 | 0.18 | 0.36 | -0.14 |
| Cash from operations | 1,717 | 362 | 1,052 | 784 | 708 | 151 | 623 | 699 |
| = Free cash flow | 1,295 | 30 | 620 | 450 | 400 | -57 | 369 | 482 |
What this means. The figures are for each three-month quarter, even though some descriptions say “during the year,” so they are not full-year amounts.
What should Corning watch on October 27, 2026?
The earnings call is scheduled for October 27, 2026. Investors should check September-quarter results against guidance, the promised improvement in Solar and the pace of capital spending. Reaching the year-end sales run rate would establish a higher starting point for 2027, but sustaining it with stronger cash generation would matter more.