What Happened?
Shares of glass and electronic component manufacturer Corning (NYSE: GLW) jumped 3.8% in the afternoon session after BofA raised its price target on the company's shares to $110 from $95 while keeping a Buy rating.
The positive analyst note came ahead of the company's scheduled fourth-quarter results. In the preview, the firm pointed to Apple's expected foldable device launch as a potential positive for Corning's future business. The analyst specifically mentioned that this development could provide incremental color on the company's Optical, Solar, and Specialty segments. The updated price target reflected a more optimistic outlook on the stock's potential.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $93.80, up 4% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Corning’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago when the stock gained 12.7% on the news that the company reported stellar second-quarter financial results that surpassed analyst expectations, driven by surging demand for its AI-related products.
The materials science company announced that core sales grew 12% year-over-year to $4.05 billion, while core earnings per share (EPS) jumped 28% to $0.60, beating analyst estimates. This performance was largely attributed to the Optical Communications division, where enterprise sales soared by an impressive 81% year-over-year, propelled by strong demand for products used in Generative AI. Bolstering investor confidence, the company also issued an optimistic forecast for the third quarter, projecting core sales of around $4.2 billion and signaling that management expected the positive momentum to persist.
Corning is up 3.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $93.80 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $95.97 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Corning’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,481.
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