Corning is set to announce its second quarter 2015 results on Tuesday, July 28.
The glassware maker last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th, reporting $0.35 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Corning will post $1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th.
The company was given an “A-” credit rating by Morningstar, indicating that the company is a low default risk. They also gave their stock a three star rating.
Corning opened at 18.58 on Friday 24 July. Corning has a 52 week low of $17.03 and a 52 week high of $25.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.95 and its 200-day moving average is $22.15. The company has a market cap of $23.38 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22.
Growth is expected in core sales driven by its Display Technologies, Optical Communications and Specialty Materials segments. However, the reported sales will likely be tempered due to foreign currency headwinds.
In the last quarter, Corning reported revenues declined 1% due to currency-related headwinds. However, its core sales improved 4%, to reach $2.43 billion, driven by growth at its Optical Communications and Specialty Materials segments. Corning’s core earnings increased 14%, to $484 million, driving a 21% increase in core earnings per share, to reach $0.35. The market was expecting earnings per share of $0.34.
The shift to larger sized LCD televisions will likely lead to strong demand for 4K LCD TVs, which are expected to grow more than 50%, reaching more than 32 million units in 2015. In addition, replacement demand of Plasma and CRT TVs should also drive growth in glass volumes.
Demand for Corning’s latest version of cover glass, Gorilla Glass 4, should boost sales of Specialty Materials in the second quarter. Gorilla Glass 4 was featured on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which were launched recently.
Lotus NXT Glass, its newest instalment of display glass for LCDs and OLEDs and third generation of its Lotus Glass products, is expected become an important part of Corning’s product offering in the future.
Corning has announced that Project Phire, its design-in version of Gorilla Glass, named its answer to competition from sapphire-based cover glasses, will be available commercially in the second half of 2015.
Growth is likely also in Corning’s Optical Communications segment, driven by the consolidation of TR Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics’ fiber optics business, acquired this year.