Corning Clocks 2% Core Sales Decline In Q4 Due To Pandemic Driven Ripple Effect; Introduces Pricing Actions To Drive Margins - Corning (NYSE:GLW)

Corning Inc GLW reported a fourth-quarter FY22 core sales decline of 2% year-on-year to $3.63 billion, beating the consensus of $3.55 billion.
Display Technologies sales declined 17% Y/Y to $783 million, driven by lower glass volume due to the industry correction in the second half of 2022.
Optical Communications sales declined by 1% Y/Y to $1.195 billion as 5G, broadband, and cloud computing continue to drive growth.
Specialty Materials sales decreased by 3% to $505 million, driven by customer product launches and continued strong demand for premium glasses and advanced optics products. Life Sciences sales decreased by 7% Y/Y to $294 million, reflecting lower demand for COVID-related products.
Environmental Technologies sales grew by 12% Y/Y to $394 million.
Core EPS of $0.47 beat the consensus of $0.44. Corning generated $377 million in free cash flow.
Chair and CEO Wendell P. Weeks said: "I'm pleased with the sales growth we continue to deliver despite recession-level demand in markets constituting about half of our sales. However, our profitability and cash flow have lagged sales growth as a number of pandemic-driven effects continue to ripple across the global economy. In response, we took significant additional price and productivity improvement actions in the fourth quarter that will improve margins and cash generation starting this year."
"Even though the pandemic-related disruptions in China are currently impacting the television, automotive, smartphone, and IT markets, we'll be ready to capture growth when consumer demand returns."
Outlook: Corning sees Q1 core sales of $3.20 billion - $3.40 billion (consensus $3.58 billion) and core EPS of $0.35 - $0.42 (consensus $0.47).
Price Action: GLW shares traded lower by 1.022% at $36.02 in the premarket on the last check Tuesday.

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