CORNING, N.Y., October 24, 2007 – Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) today announced results for the third quarter of 2007.
Third-Quarter Highlights
Sales reached $1.55 billion, up 21% year-over-year.
Earnings per share (both GAAP and non-GAAP) were $0.38, better than the company's guidance of $0.34 to $0.37 and significantly better than last year.
Display Technologies' glass volume increased 15% and Samsung Corning Precision's volume increased 14% compared to quarter two. Price declines in the quarter were in line with previous quarters.
Sequentially, telecommunications sales increased 8% (10%* excluding the impact of the divestiture of the company's submarine cabling business in the second quarter).

Fourth-Quarter Outlook Highlights


Sales are expected in the range of $1.50 billion to $1.55 billion.
EPS is expected in the range of $0.36 to $0.38 before special items.*
Display volume is expected to be up 2% to 5% sequentially, and consistent with the overall glass market growth.
Telecommunications sales are expected to decline about 10% sequentially, in line with normal seasonal patterns.

Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Corning delivered a robust third quarter with excellent performance in our Display Technologies and Telecommunications segments. As we expected, telecommunications sales improved in the quarter."

Quarter Three Financial Comparisons

Q3 2007 Q2 2007 % Change Q3 2006 % Change
Net Sales
in millions $1,553 $1,418 +10% $1,282 +21%
Net Income
in millions $ 617 $ 489 +26% $ 438 +41%
GAAP EPS $ 0.38 $ 0.30 +26% $ 0.27 +41%
Non-GAAP
EPS* $ 0.38 $ 0.34 +12% $ 0.28 +36%

*These are non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP measures is provided in the tables following this news release, as well as on the company's investor relations website.

Overview of Business Segment Results
Third-quarter sales for Corning's Display Technologies segment were $705 million, a 16% sequential increase, and a 39% increase over the third quarter 2006. The display segment results were also positively impacted by a favorable U.S.-dollar-to-Japanese-yen exchange rate in the quarter.

Telecommunications segment sales in the third quarter were $472 million, an 8% sequential increase and a 4% increase over the third quarter 2006. Excluding the impact of the divestiture of the submarine cabling business, sales were up 10%* over the second quarter and 13%* over the third quarter 2006. The strong third-quarter performance was driven by growth throughout the segment, including increased demand for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) products and private network projects. During the third quarter, the company began shipments to a new European FTTP customer.

Environmental Technologies segment sales in the third quarter were $198 million, a 4% sequential increase and a 29% increase over the third quarter 2006. Corning's Life Sciences segment had sales of $78 million, remaining even with last quarter, and 15% higher than a year ago.

Corning's equity earnings from Dow Corning were $81 million in the third quarter, compared to $88 million in the second quarter and $78 million a year ago. Third-quarter equity earnings include a $4 million nonrecurring tax charge.

The company's third-quarter results included two special items: a credit of $16 million related to the Pittsburgh Corning Corporation settlement and $18 million of restructuring charges in equity earnings from Samsung Corning Company, Ltd. Samsung Corning is Corning's 50-percent owned equity venture in Korea which manufactures glass panels and funnels for cathode ray tubes for conventional televisions and computer monitors.

Fourth-Quarter 2007 Outlook
"The overall display market appears healthy heading into the fourth quarter. Retail market indicators continue to point toward a strong consumer holiday buying season for electronic goods such as LCD televisions, laptop computers and flat screen monitors. We currently see no evidence of credit concerns in the U.S. impacting consumers' purchasing decisions," James B. Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer, said.

Business Segment Highlights


Sequential LCD volume in both the company's wholly owned business and at Samsung Corning Precision is expected to increase in the range of 2% to 5%. Corning's wholly owned business is on track to increase volume 37% to 38% for the full year. To meet this level of demand, the company anticipates running its operations at full capacity in the fourth quarter. Sequential price declines are again expected to be in line with previous quarters. Corning is assuming a U.S.-dollar-to-Japanese-yen exchange rate of 116 for quarter four.
Corning's Telecommunications segment sales are expected to increase about 5% (about 15%* excluding the impact of divestitures) versus the fourth quarter 2006, and are on track to grow about 3% (about 10%* excluding the impact of divestitures) this year.
Environmental Technologies segment sales are expected to decline about 10% sequentially, and increase about 15% versus the fourth quarter 2006.
Sales for the Life Sciences segment are expected to decline slightly on a sequential basis and be even with the fourth quarter 2006.

"Compared to last year, we expect our fourth-quarter sales to be up about 10% to 13% and our EPS, before special items, to increase 16% to 22%.* These fourth-quarter results will bring our full-year sales growth to about 12% and our full-year EPS growth, before special items, to at least 21%* over 2006, bringing us another outstanding year of performance for Corning," Flaws said.

Looking forward to 2008, Flaws said that Corning's current view is that the LCD glass market will expand by at least 400 million square feet, driven primarily by the growth of LCD television demand. This square-footage growth is similar to that experienced in both 2006 and 2007. Corning intends to continue its current pricing strategy in 2008.

Corning Incorporated zie www.corning.com