Corning Turns To Profit In Q4

(RTTNews) - Corning Inc. (GLW) reported that its net income attributable to the company for fourth-quarter 2018 was $292 million or $0.32 per share, compared to a loss of $1.41 billion or $1.66 per share last year.

The prior year result included a provisional amount related to the one-time mandatory tax on unrepatriated foreign earnings, a provisional amount related to the remeasurement of U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in valuation allowances as a result of the 2017 Tax Act, and adjustments for the elimination of foreign tax credits.

Fourth-quarter core sales of $3.1 billion, up 15% year over year, and core earnings per share of $0.59, up 28% year over year.

Net sales grew to $3.04 billion from $2.64 billion last year.

The company expects continued growth in 2019 and beyond, driven by benefits from its investments as well as adoption of technologies well-aligned to key industry trends and Corning's cohesive portfolio.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.57 per share and revenues of $3.01 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

For full-year 2019, Corning expects display glass market volume to grow by a mid-single digit percentage. The company expects its volume to grow more than the market, resulting from the ramp of its Gen 10.5 facility during 2018. Annual Display glass price declines are expected to be a mid-single-digit percentage, an improvement over 2018.