Corning

GLW · NYSE · Information Technology · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

GLW · Last close · October 26, 2026

$127.74

Corning's revenue rose 19.1% to $15.6 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 14.6%, up from 8.7% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $1.4 billion, up 45.1%. It paid out $1.2 billion in dividends and buybacks, 82% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.2%.

CORNING INC /NY Latest fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 10-K filed February 12, 2026 · 0000024741-26-000124 Updated October 9, 2026

Revenue

$15.6B

19.1%

Operating margin

14.6%

5.9 pts

Net income

$1.6B

215.4%

Free cash flow

$1.4B

45.1%

Return on capital

10.8%

6.0 pts

Market cap

$111.8B

Oct 26 close

P/E

58.3x

On $2.19 EPS, 4 qtrs

Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.

What Corning does

Corning is a materials company, tracing back to a glass business started in 1851. It makes glass, ceramics and optical fiber for other companies' products. Its markets include optical communications, displays, mobile electronics, cars and trucks, life sciences, semiconductors and solar. It makes products in 14 countries.

It reports five segments. Optical Communications sells optical fiber, cable and connection hardware to telephone and cable carriers and to businesses, including data centers. Display makes precision glass for screens. Specialty Materials makes specialty glass, including damage-resistant cover glass for mobile devices. Automotive combines technical glass for vehicles with clean-air products for cars and trucks. Life Sciences makes lab products used in drug discovery and delivery.

Corning says demand for fiber and connection products inside and between data centers is rising with artificial intelligence. Corning says its Optical Communications and Display segments produce a large part of its profit and cash flow. In 2025 it started managing its auto glass and environmental technologies businesses together as the Automotive segment, and it renamed Display Technologies as Display.

Its biggest risks, as it describes them

Optical Communications and Display bring in much of its profit and cash, so a drop in either would hurt.
Prices and supply of raw materials, energy and other inputs it relies on.
Disruptions at its factories, or those of its contract manufacturers.
Trouble enforcing its patents and other rights, and no guarantee its research spending will pay off.
Trade policies that could limit what it can sell or make outside the U.S.

From Corning's annual report on Form 10-K, filed February 12, 2026, in our words; the 10-K has the full description and every risk factor. Updated with each new 10-K.

Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.

Revenue and margins

Revenue

US$ billions, fiscal years

Margins

Percent of revenue

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

Net income and earnings per share

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share fell 6.1% a year and net income 8.9% a year, while buybacks cut the share count by 24%.

Net income

US$ billions, fiscal years; loss years in red.

Diluted earnings per share

US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity

Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.

Return on capitalReturn on equity

Cash flow

Free cash flow

US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure; negative years in red.

Payouts and share count

Dividends and buybacks

US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year

DividendsShare buybacks

Diluted share count

Weighted-average diluted shares, billions

Valuation

Two ways to value Corning yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.

Discounted cash flow (DCF)

A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Corning's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.

Value per share on three example scenarios, from Corning's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $1.4B, net cash of −$6.9B at December 31, 2025 and 871 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Corning: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 3.3% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 9% for a business of moderate risk (Electronic Components); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.

From the filings

Starting free cash flow, US$ millions

Cash from operations minus capital spending in fiscal 2025.

Net cash, US$ millions

Cash and short-term investments minus debt and finance leases at December 31, 2025. Negative means net debt.

Diluted shares, millions

Weighted-average diluted shares in fiscal 2025.

Your assumptions

Start from

Fitted to Corning's own revenue growth, as above. Cautious: growth of 1.5% then 2% a year, 2% after year 10, a 10% discount rate. Base: growth of 3.5% then 3% a year, 2.5% after year 10, a 9% discount rate. Optimistic: growth of 5.5% then 4% a year, 3% after year 10, a 8% discount rate.

Free cash flow growth, years 1 to 5 (% a year)

Free cash flow growth, years 6 to 10 (% a year)

Growth after year 10 (% a year)Long-run growth forever after year 10. Usually close to inflation, and always below the discount rate.

Discount rate (% a year)The yearly return an investor wants for the risk. A higher rate gives a lower value.

Value per share on these assumptions

—

Last close, October 26, 2026: $127.74
Value on these assumptions, against the last close: —

Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today: —
Everything after year 10, valued today: —
Plus net cash: —
Share of value from after year 10: —

Projected free cash flow

US$ billions. Each column is one year's projected free cash flow, split into what it is worth today and the part removed by discounting.

Value todayRemoved by discounting

How the value changes with two assumptions

Value per share in US$, with the growth rates above. The highlighted cell matches the current assumptions.

How the model works. Free cash flow grows at the first rate for five years and the second rate for five more, and each year is discounted at the discount rate. Everything after year 10 is valued as year-10 cash flow × (1 + growth after year 10) ÷ (discount rate − growth after year 10), discounted back ten years. Net cash is added and the total is divided by diluted shares. The result depends entirely on the assumptions. It is not a forecast, a price target or a recommendation. The last close is the consolidated US closing price, from Databento.

Price-to-earnings (P/E) method

Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.

Value per share on three example scenarios, from Corning's earnings per share of $2.19 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 36.3×, the middle of Corning's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (its peers' median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 10%, 9% and 8%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.

Earnings per share, US$

Diluted earnings per share over the four quarters to June 30, 2026, from the 10-Qs and 10-K.

P/E multiple

P/E today is the last close divided by the latest earnings per share, the four quarters' where available. Peers: Amphenol, Coherent, Vishay Intertechnology, Belden.

Earnings growth in the years ahead (% a year) Starts at Corning's revenue growth over the last 3 years, 3.3% a year, as the base scenario does.

Earnings per share in the years ahead, US$

Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5

Type your own estimate for any year; the years after it carry on at the growth rate.

Apply the multiple to earnings

A multiple on a future year's earnings gives the price then, brought back to today at the discount rate below.

Discount rate (% a year) The yearly return an investor wants for the risk, as in the cash flow model.

Value per share today at this multiple

—

Last close, October 26, 2026: $127.74
Value at this multiple, against the last close: —
Corning's P/E at the last close: 58.3×

Company	Last close	Earnings per share	P/E today
Vishay IntertechnologyVSH	$26.71	$0.18	148.4×
CorningGLW	$127.74	$2.19	58.3×
CoherentCOHR	$221.50	$4.12	53.8×
AmphenolAPH	$75.27	$3.99	18.9×
BeldenBDC	$102.99	$6.15	16.7×

How the P/E method works. Value per share is earnings per share times the multiple. On a future year's earnings, that gives the price in that year, which is brought back to today at the discount rate: price ÷ (1 + discount rate) for each year ahead. It is quick and easy to compare across companies, but it ignores debt and cash, and earnings can swing with one-off gains and charges, so a multiple says most about steady, profitable businesses. Like the cash flow model, the result depends entirely on the assumptions you choose. It is not a forecast, a price target or a recommendation.

Balance sheet

Fiscal year end	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Cash and short-term investments	2,148	1,671	1,779	1,768	1,526
Debt incl. finance leases	7,044	6,911	7,526	7,211	8,425
Net debt (negative means net cash)	4,896	5,240	5,747	5,443	6,899
Net debt to EBITDA	1.4x	1.8x	2.5x	2.2x	1.9x
Debt to equity	0.6x	0.6x	0.7x	0.7x	0.7x
Interest coverage	7.0x	4.9x	2.7x	3.5x	6.8x
Current ratio	1.6x	1.4x	1.7x	1.6x	1.6x
Quick ratio	1.1x	0.9x	1.1x	1.1x	1.0x

US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought Corning shares on the open market, and 15 insiders sold $112.2 million.

Date	Insider	Trade	Shares	Price	Value	Filing
Sep 4, 2026	Michelle L GulloSenior Vice President & CHRO	Sold	9,874	$152.29	$1.5 million	Form 4
Aug 28, 2026	Lewis A SteversonVice Chairman, EVP and CLAO	Sold	13,100	$151.29	$2.0 million	Form 4
Jun 9, 2026	Wendell P WeeksChairman, CEO and President, Director	Sold	100,000	$186.46	$18.6 million	Form 4
May 22, 2026	Jaymin AminSVP and Chief Tech. Officer	Sold	27,395	$192.14	$5.3 million	Form 4
May 15, 2026	Avery H Nelson IIIExecutive Vice President & COO	Sold	20,000	$195.93	$3.9 million	Form 4
May 13, 2026	Ronald L VerkleerenSVP Emerging Innovations Group	Sold	10,000	$207.77	$2.1 million	Form 4
May 11, 2026	Soumya SeetharamSenior Vice President & CDIO	Sold	20,000	$206.23	$4.1 million	Form 4
May 11, 2026	John Z ZhangExec. Vice President & CCDO	Sold	10,000	$198.34	$2.0 million	Form 4
May 11, 2026	Michaune D TillmanSVP and General Counsel	Sold	3,260	$207.02	$674,885	Form 4
May 8, 2026	Lewis A SteversonVice Chairman, EVP and CLAO	Sold	27,750	$196.06	$5.4 million	Form 4
May 8, 2026	Stefan BeckerSVP, Finance & Corp Controller	Sold	21,000	$188.08	$3.9 million	Form 4
May 8, 2026	Michelle L GulloSenior Vice President & CHRO	Sold	5,315	$189.03	$1.0 million	Form 4

The latest 12 of 34 trades. Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Piotroski F-score

The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

Test	FY23	FY24	FY25
Net income is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Cash from operations is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Return on assets rose	Fail	Fail	Pass
Cash from operations exceeds net income	Pass	Pass	Pass
Debt fell relative to assets	Fail	Pass	Fail
Current ratio rose	Pass	Fail	Fail
Share count didn't rise	Fail	Fail	Fail
Gross margin rose	Fail	Pass	Pass
Revenue rose relative to assets	Fail	Pass	Pass
F-score	4 of 9	6 of 9	6 of 9
Accruals ratio	−4.9%	−5.1%	−3.7%

The accruals ratio is net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets.

Compare

Put Corning side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.

Similar companies

Company	Year	Revenue growth	Operating margin	Free cash flow margin	Return on capital	Net debt to EBITDA	F-score	Compare
Corning	FY25	19.1%	14.6%	9.0%	10.8%	1.9x	6
Amphenol	FY25	51.7%	25.4%	19.0%	29.1%	0.6x	7	Compare
Coherent	FY26	22.5%	—	−14.4%	9.1%	0.8x	7	Compare
Vishay Intertechnology	FY25	4.5%	1.9%	−2.9%	1.2%	1.6x	5	Compare
Belden	FY25	10.3%	11.6%	8.1%	13.3%	2.0x	8	Compare

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score above.

10 years of figures

Fiscal year	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Income statement
Revenue	9,390	10,116	11,290	11,503	11,303	14,082	14,189	12,588	13,118	15,629
Revenue growth	3.1%	7.7%	11.6%	1.9%	−1.7%	24.6%	0.8%	−11.3%	4.2%	19.1%
Gross profit	3,763	4,020	4,461	4,035	3,531	5,063	4,506	3,931	4,276	5,621
Research and development	637	689	807	800	1,000	800	900	900	800	800
Operating income	1,424	1,608	1,575	1,306	509	2,112	1,438	890	1,135	2,279
Net income	3,695	−497	1,066	960	512	1,906	1,316	581	506	1,596
Diluted EPS (US$)	3.23	−0.66	1.13	1.07	0.54	1.28	1.54	0.68	0.58	1.83
Diluted shares (millions)	1,144	895	941	899	772	844	857	859	869	871
Cash flow
Cash from operations	2,537	2,004	2,919	2,031	2,180	3,412	2,615	2,005	1,939	2,695
Capital expenditure	—	—	2,242	1,978	1,377	1,637	1,604	1,390	965	1,282
Free cash flow	—	—	677	53	803	1,775	1,011	615	974	1,413
Dividends paid	645	651	685	742	787	871	932	989	986	999
Share buybacks	4,227	2,452	2,227	940	105	274	221	0	165	163
Acquisitions	333	171	842	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
Stock-based compensation	42	46	51	56	207	190	175	218	273	286
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments	5,291	4,317	2,355	2,434	2,672	2,148	1,671	1,779	1,768	1,526
Debt incl. finance leases	3,902	5,128	5,998	7,740	7,972	7,044	6,911	7,526	7,211	8,425
Total assets	27,899	27,494	27,505	28,898	30,775	30,154	29,499	28,500	27,735	30,976
Total liabilities	9,939	11,724	13,619	15,901	17,327	17,609	17,224	16,632	16,665	18,669
Shareholders' equity	17,893	15,698	13,792	12,907	13,257	12,333	12,008	11,551	10,686	11,807
Margins and ratios
Gross margin	40.1%	39.7%	39.5%	35.1%	31.2%	36.0%	31.8%	31.2%	32.6%	36.0%
Operating margin	15.2%	15.9%	13.9%	11.3%	4.5%	15.0%	10.1%	7.1%	8.7%	14.6%
Net margin	39.4%	−4.9%	9.4%	8.3%	4.5%	13.5%	9.3%	4.6%	3.9%	10.2%
Free cash flow margin	—	—	6.0%	0.5%	7.1%	12.6%	7.1%	4.9%	7.4%	9.0%
Return on capital	8.2%	4.8%	6.5%	5.8%	2.3%	9.3%	6.3%	4.0%	4.8%	10.8%
Return on equity	20.1%	−3.0%	7.2%	7.2%	3.9%	14.9%	10.8%	4.9%	4.5%	14.2%
Return on assets	13.1%	−1.8%	3.9%	3.4%	1.7%	6.3%	4.4%	2.0%	1.8%	5.4%
Net debt to EBITDA	−0.5x	0.3x	1.3x	1.9x	2.6x	1.4x	1.8x	2.5x	2.2x	1.9x

US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)

Source: Corning's Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with Corning.