FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the logo for Corning Inc. at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., November 18, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) - Corning on Wednesday forecasted first-quarter revenue and profit that beat Wall Street expectations, with the Gorilla Glass-maker expecting robust demand for its optical fiber products for artificial intelligence-related infrastructure.
Shares of the New York-based company were up 5.6% in premarket trading.
Demand for optical fiber, which is used to transfer data at high speeds, has been boosted by increased adoption of AI technologies by consumers and enterprises.
The $500-billion Stargate project announced by U.S. President Donald Trump is also expected to benefit Corning as its some of its products are expected to be deployed to connect different systems, servers and network equipment.
The company manufactures carrier network and enterprise network components for the telecommunications industry, as well as glass substrates for flat panel displays, which includes liquid crystal displays.
Corning said it expects first-quarter revenue to be $3.60 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion, data compiled by LSEG showed.
On an adjusted basis, it expects first-quarter profit to be between 48 cents and 52 cents per share, with the mid-point above the average of analysts' estimates of 48 cents.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, it reported revenues of $3.87 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $3.76 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On a per share basis, Corning reported an adjusted profit of 57 cents for the quarter, while analysts had expected a profit of 56 cents per share.
Its optical communications segment — the largest by revenue — reported $1.37 billion in revenues for the quarter ended Dec. 31. This exceeded the analysts' estimate of $1.29 billion.
The display technologies segment posted revenues of $971 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, with analysts expecting $976.7 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
