Corning Q2 2026 Earnings Beat Estimates but Stock Falls on Disappointing Guidance

Corning reported Q2 2026 core earnings of $0.78 per share (up 30% YoY) and core sales of $4.74 billion (up 17% YoY), beating analyst expectations of $0.76 EPS and $4.63 billion in sales. Despite the beat, shares fell 14% in premarket trading due to weaker-than-expected Q3 guidance: core EPS of $0.85-$0.89 and sales of $4.9-$5.0 billion, with the midpoint of sales guidance below the $4.99 billion consensus. Optical Communications led growth with $2.07 billion in sales (up 32%), while Solar segment sales surged 90% to $438 million but posted a net loss of $7 million. Corning announced major partnerships with Amazon (multiyear, multibillion-dollar fiber deal) and NVIDIA (expanding U.S. optical connectivity manufacturing tenfold). CEO Wendell Weeks cited a 'new phase of accelerating growth' with a Springboard Plan targeting $20 billion annualized sales by end of 2026, $30 billion by 2028, and $40 billion by 2030. Other optical networking stocks also fell, including Ciena (-5.9%), Coherent (-5.7%), and Lumentum (-4.7%).