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Corning (GLW -8.4%) plummets after guiding in its Q3 report for Q4 glass volumes to be flat to...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 10:55 AM ET
Corning (GLW -8.4%) plummets after guiding in its Q3 report for Q4 glass volumes to be flat to down by "a low-single digit percentage" Q/Q, with accelerating price declines taking place along the way. During its earnings call, Corning also noted its gross margin will decline in Q4, and that its telecom glass business (hurt by a weak capex environment) won't meet its 2012 growth target. The company says it has "no plans" to boost LCD glass capacity.

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This news story has 20 comments:

Jason Tillberg Comments (1138)

Par for the course of what's to come.

24 Oct 2012, 11:05 AM Reply Like

Windsun33 Comments (3924)

I was tempted to buy some a couple weeks ago, but been burned by this value trap before, so stayed out. One of my few smart moves.

24 Oct 2012, 11:11 AM Reply Like

chopchop0 Comments (1661)

Yup. GLW is one big pile of value trap crap

24 Oct 2012, 11:19 AM Reply Like

chopchop0 Comments (1661)

Kinda like INTC....

24 Oct 2012, 11:21 AM Reply Like

Windsun33 Comments (3924)

I have made a lot of money on (INTC) as it goes through it's periodic 20% changes. If it hits below $21.25 I might pick up a bunch and wait for the next up cycle.

GLW however never seems to recover.

24 Oct 2012, 11:40 AM Reply Like

chopchop0 Comments (1661)

I used to think that, but the ten-year chart on GLW shows a return of 660% vs 67% for the DJIA and 41% for INTC.... It's really only been bad for GLW since 2011.

Either way, neither is going into my portfolio

24 Oct 2012, 11:51 AM Reply Like

Windsun33 Comments (3924)

(GLW) has been pretty much all downhill since late 2009. 5 year chart is negative 51%.

24 Oct 2012, 12:05 PM Reply Like

Michael Eisenberg Comments (269)

one business is working http://dthin.gs/TG8wNU

24 Oct 2012, 11:17 AM Reply Like

Matthew Lewis Comments (259)

Interesting to see Specialty materials (Gorilla Glass) finally getting some earnings traction. It's probably never going to be a game changer, but it will provide some good earnings diversification down the road.

24 Oct 2012, 11:45 AM Reply Like

TOY1DOC Comments (17)

My opinion is that GLW is a STRONG BUY. Do not look at the past or the immediate future. Go out 6 months and you will see another outlook that is VERY positive. Corning is no doubt a glass company, but is slowly evolving into an electronic company with some very revolutionary products. My outlook is 6 to 12 months for a major and VERY rewarding move.

24 Oct 2012, 12:07 PM Reply Like

Windsun33 Comments (3924)

I heard that same line a year ago. And just a little less than a year ago I sold all 2000 shares for $13.13, for a 12% loss.

24 Oct 2012, 03:33 PM Reply Like

InvestBio Comments (2)

I hope you are right

24 Oct 2012, 04:09 PM Reply Like

mikeurl Comments (381)

GLW can be a fine investment if you carefully pick your entry points. In-between quarterly reports people tend to forget that most of the Big Glass profits are going away. If you model GLW minus 50% of its Big Glass profit then you're in the ballpark and the stock makes perfect sense.

It isn't that complicated. The CEO says in every conference call that the TV business sucks and will continue to suck (though it may suck a little bit less in 2014). But get a grip. That is where virtually all their profits are. You can make money in GLW but for god's sake pick your entry points carefully.

And don't be shocked to see a 9 handle on this stock in the not too distant future. If you don't want to do your homework then buy an ETF. I'm sick of the whining and misinformation about GLW on SA.

24 Oct 2012, 12:15 PM Reply Like

pman6 Comments (199)

i bought glw recently at 11.xx, and sold at 12.xx

good enough for me.

24 Oct 2012, 12:37 PM Reply Like

Matthew Lewis Comments (259)

Well said Mikeurl. My outlook on Corning is for the long term (5+ years). The stock trades under book value, has tons of cash, is reducing share count every quarter buying back shares, and is diversifying their earnings. Yea, the big glass profits are going down, but they aren't going to go away completely. Pick your entry points carefully and I think you'll see high teens again in the next 5 years or so.

24 Oct 2012, 01:40 PM Reply Like

Windsun33 Comments (3924)

And that is the classic example of a value trap - good company, but nobody is buying it.

24 Oct 2012, 03:34 PM Reply Like

mikeurl Comments (381)

I think Flaws really surprised analysts with their new "market share pricing model" for big glass. I'm not sure I've ever heard of any company explicitly doing that. The analysts were clearly confused by it and James wasn't really all that clear (at least partially because they can't fully divulge the strategy).

The negative way to look at it is that GLW is now committed to a "market share at any price" strategy. And that means a fight to the death on pricing for a commodity product. So that should scare anyone who thought maybe big glass was going to make a profitability comeback any time soon. It isn't. Then again, no one should really be surprised by that. Anyone reading the conference calls should already know 1/2 of the big glass profitability is gone and never coming back (for a wide variety of reasons).

25 Oct 2012, 11:51 AM Reply Like