After a More Than 20% Sell-Off on Earnings, Corning Stock Is Still a ‘Buy’ for the AI Infrastructure Trade

Corning (GLW), best known to many investors as the maker of Gorilla Glass, had increasingly been revalued as an important supplier to the AI buildout thanks to its optical connectivity business. However, its latest earnings shock is a reminder that even the market’s most celebrated AI infrastructure winners can run into gravity when expectations get too high.

Its shares fell as much as 20% intraday on July 28 after the company reported second-quarter results. That is one of the sharpest single-day declines in years for a name that had become a high-conviction proxy for AI infrastructure spending.

This drop came even as its Optical Communications, the segment most directly tied to AI data-center demand, grew 32% to more than $2 billion. The market’s reaction was driven less by the quarter itself and more by the outlook: Corning guided third-quarter core sales to $4.9 billion to $5.0 billion, or 16% year-over-year (YOY) growth, a touch below elevated consensus estimates. Optical Communications growth also decelerated from 36% in the first quarter to 32% in the second, which investors interpreted as the first clear sign of slowing momentum after a period of hyper-growth.

That disconnect now frames the central question for shareholders and prospective buyers. Was the sell-off an overreaction to a temporary guidance reset, or does it signal that the AI optical story is losing momentum?  

Corning’s Latest Results

Corning makes specialty glass, optical fiber, and connectivity products used in data centers, consumer electronics, and solar manufacturing. Based in Corning, New York, the company carries a market value of $116.38 billion and has become a central name in AI infrastructure spending.

GLW’s share price is up 61.9% year-to-date (YTD) and 126.5% during the past 52 weeks.  

It has a premium forward price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58 times, which stands above the sector median of 23.04 times, while its price-to-sales ratio of 6.83 times is also well above the sector median of 3.26 times. 

Corning released second-quarter 2026 results on July 27. Its core sales rose 17% YOY to $4.74 billion, while core EPS increased 30% to $0.78. GLW’s Optical Communications segment grew sales 32% to $2.07 billion, with Enterprise Networks up 65% and Gen AI product sales growing even faster. This supports Corning’s case as a supplier to the AI buildout.

Despite the solid results, management guidance for third-quarter core sales was a touch below elevated consensus estimates, which helped trigger the sharp post-earnings sell-off.

Corning’s Solar segment also grew sales 90% after finishing an extended maintenance shutdown and equipment upgrade at its solar wafer facility. It said profitability should improve in Q3, which adds another growth lever beyond AI.

Corning’s Growth Plan and Next Steps

Corning’s move forward is tied to execution. The company has already set a clear roadmap through its Springboard plan. They expect to reach a $20 billion annualized sales run rate by the end of 2026, based on its upgraded plan that adds $6.5 billion in incremental annualized sales from the Q4 2023 starting point. It then wants to push annualized sales to $30 billion by the end of 2028, with a $17 billion spring instead of the $11 billion spring it outlined in January. 

The company also laid out a high-confidence 2028 target of $27 billion. Their longer-term setup is even more important. Corning is extending Springboard to $40 billion in annualized sales by the end of 2030, while also giving a high-confidence path to $35 billion. 

The AI demand side still supports that case. Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) and Corning announced a multiyear partnership to expand U.S. manufacturing of advanced optical connectivity solutions for next-generation AI infrastructure. Corning plans to increase U.S. optical connectivity capacity by 10x and U.S. fiber production by more than 50%. The buildout includes three new facilities in North Carolina and Texas and more than 3,000 new jobs.

Further, Corning signed a multibillion-dollar, multidecade deal with Amazon (AMZN) to expand U.S. fiber optic output for data centers. That agreement is expected to create thousands of jobs, including 1,000 positions in North Carolina, plus construction and training activity. 

So the way forward is simple. If Corning keeps converting these contracts and capacity expansions into sales growth, the post-earnings drop may look like a reset, not a breakdown.  

Analyst Outlook and Next Earnings

Corning heads into its next report with expectations still pointing higher. The company is scheduled to release results on October 27, for the current quarter ending September 2026. Wall Street is looking for average earnings of $0.87 per share versus $0.67 a year ago, which implies 29.85% YOY growth.

That setup shows the market is still expecting Corning to keep delivering real operating progress. Corning expects core sales to rise about 16% YOY to $4.9 billion to $5 billion, while core EPS is projected to climb about 28% to $0.85 to $0.89.

The analyst backdrop is supportive. Citi analyst Asiya Merchant, on April 9, maintained a “Buy” rating on Corning and kept a $170 price target.

Consensus estimates are still leaning bullish, with 14 surveyed analysts rating GLW at a “Moderate Buy.” Their average price target is $195.93, representing 39.3% upside from here.  

Conclusion

Corning still looks worth owning for AI infrastructure exposure, especially after the post-earnings pullback. I’d expect the stock to favor a slow recovery if sales growth and guidance keep improving. Near term, shares could remain uneven, but the broader trend still points higher rather than lower, with AI connectivity demand and Corning’s expansion plans giving the stock a real path to recover.