Corning falls over 20% after forecasting weaker-than-expected sales

• Sales in Corning's Optical Communications segment rose 32% to $2.07 billion, compared with 36% growth in the prior quarter. The growth rate was also below the 81% increase recorded a year earlier.
• Corning said demand for products tied to generative AI infrastructure continued to accelerate, helping support growth across the business.
• Executives said in an earnings call that memory pricing is expected to remain a headwind for the handheld market this year, with unit volumes forecast to decline in the mid-teen percentage range.
• Solar sales nearly doubled to $438 million, though the segment reported a loss. Corning expects profitability to improve in the third quarter.
• A key supplier to Apple, the company has been hurt by softer global smartphone demand weighing on volumes for its specialty glass products, particularly display technologies.
• Corning forecast third-quarter core sales of $4.9 billion to $5 billion and adjusted earnings of 85 cents to 89 cents per share.
• It reported second-quarter revenue of $4.74 billion, compared with analysts' estimate of $4.61 billion, according to LSEG data.

July 28 (Reuters) - Corning on Tuesday forecast third-quarter sales slightly short of Wall Street expectations after reporting slower growth in its key fiber optics unit.

Shares of the company fell over 20% in early trading, putting the company on track to shed more than $23.2 billion in market value, if losses hold.

Corning's optical fiber business has helped drive growth amid AI-fueled data center demand, offsetting weakness in its Gorilla Glass segment tied to softer consumer electronics markets.