Oleblue
12 months ago
This Stock Is About to Get an AI Boost. No One Is Paying Attention—Yet.
Savitz, Eric J
Finding fresh opportunities to invest in artificial intelligence is daunting, which explains why investors just keep pouring money into a handful of the same ideas. Nvidia has rallied 43% over the past month. In the same span, Arm Holdings has jumped 35%, C3.ai is up 22%, and Taiwan Semiconductor has gained 14%. AI plays, all.
Wall Street has recently started to fret about AI's profit potential outside of Nvidia, but this past week emboldened the bulls. It started with Apple's long-awaited unveiling of its AI strategy at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference . Apple stock rallied 11% on the news, with investors seemingly convinced a new iPhone upgrade cycle is coming. The Apple news was followed by AI-juiced earnings reports from Oracle, Broadcom, and Adobe, sparking double-digit stock rallies for all three, and spurring a renewed hunt for AI ideas .
I've got one for you: specialty glassmaker Corning. Founded in 1851, Corning makes highly engineered glass for a host of applications: Glass for TVs, PCs, and mobile phones. Glass for automotive displays and pollution control systems. Glass for vaccine vials and solar panels. And glass in the form of fiberoptic cable, which is used, among other places, in AI data centers.
Corning's recent financial results have been ugly. Revenue has been down year over year for six straight quarters, and the June quarter will likely extend the string to seven. Declines in multiple key markets—smartphones, TVs, autos, and telecommunications—have battered the business.
But CEO Wendell Weeks thinks a turnaround is at hand, thanks to improvements in the underlying businesses along with underappreciated new opportunities. Like AI.
Weeks sees a "springboard" coming. He predicts Corning can boost annual revenue by at least $3 billion by 2026—and potentially as much as $5 billion—on top of the $13.6 billion in revenue the company reported in 2023.
"Material science is really slow, until it gets fast," Weeks told me this past week. "You work in an area, and you work, and it takes a long time. We're talking about the composition of matter. And then a catalyzing customer application comes along and all of a sudden you have a big secular trend take off." That trend? Well, you know.
Before we get to the details, it's worth noting a few other things playing in Corning's favor.
"The springboard framework is all about this combination of cyclical and secular growth coming together," Weeks says. "We have this $3 billion-plus sales opportunity over the next three years in which we have high confidence. And because we already have the capacity in place to execute on that, the margins in the incremental revenue should be outstanding." That's an important point: Corning doesn't need to spend a fortune here to build infrastructure.
On the cyclical side, Corning sees growth ahead in the automotive sector, for curved glass displays inside electric and autonomous vehicles, and from increased use of its gas particulate filters, widely used overseas and about to get adopted in the U.S. thanks to new Environmental Protection Agency emissions rules.
Weeks also sees a rebound coming in non-AI fiberoptic cable. That business has been down double-digits over the past year, including a 17% drop in the March quarter. But, Weeks says, it has averaged 7% growth over the long haul, and should rebound as telcos work down inventory.
Meanwhile, Weeks expects Corning to start seeing increased fiber demand next year from the rollout of a $42.5 billion federal government program known as BEAD—Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment—to make high-speed connectivity available in underserved areas. He also sees a boost to display glass volumes from a gradual increase in average TV screen sizes.
But the big opportunity comes from AI. As Weeks notes, fiberoptic cable is crucial to every cloud data center, linking processors to each other. That is even more important for AI, where the computing power comes from the interconnection of thousands and someday millions of graphics processing units, or GPUs, made by Nvidia and others. "I have been doing this a long time," Weeks says. "And we have a pretty unprecedented opportunity right now."
Weeks says systems that rely on Nvidia's popular Hopper H100 GPUs require 10 times the fiber used in a conventional server rack.
Corning formed a dedicated team four years ago to solve the problem, Weeks notes. The company invented thinner fiber, new cabling, new connectors, and a new system to tie them together. Weeks says the new approach offers 60% higher density and 70% less labor for installation. The system starts shipping this quarter.
The math should steadily improve for Corning as systems get even denser over time. When Nvidia launches its powerful new Blackwell chips later this year, the number of GPUs per rack more than doubles, to 74 from 32. That means more connections, and more fiber. When that happens, Weeks says, Corning's revenue per rack should double.
Corning shares have rallied 25% this year, but they still trade at a relatively modest 2.3 times expected 2024 sales, and about 20 times adjusted earnings. With growth set to explode and its AI business still emerging, the undiscovered Corning story might not stay that way for long.
This Stock Is About to Get an AI Boost. No One Is Paying Attention—Yet. https://t.co/osonzmroR7— Barron's (@barronsonline) June 14, 2024
$Pistol Pete$
8 years ago
$GLW Corning Launches Multiuse Platform to Cost-Effectively Prepare Networks for 4G Densification and 5G
Source: GlobeNewswire
CORNING, N.Y.; JUNE 12, 2017 - Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) has launched its multiuse platform, the industry's first solution to offer a combination of multifiber and single-fiber connection points, making it easier for carriers, operators, and municipalities to quickly deploy fiber-deep access networks. The multiuse platform will be featured in Corning's booth #401 at 2017 Fiber Connect, June 12-13 in Orlando, Florida.
Capable of supporting a mix of network architectures in the same fiber optic backbone, the multiuse platform is a major advancement for LTE connectivity and a 5G future.
"With current mobile demand and new wireless standards on the horizon, the need for easy access and reliable, secure connectivity will continue to surge," said Bob Whitman, vice president of market development, Carrier Networks, Corning Optical Communications. "As the leader in fiber optic networks, we're expanding our preconnectorized solutions with flexible deployment options that are cost-effective and future-ready. The multiuse platform's converged architecture is smaller and offers versatile components that can be customized to fit a wide variety of needs."
The multiuse platform includes:
A new local convergence cabinet that is significantly smaller and lighter than standard industry offerings. These cabinets house a variety of splitter types and accommodate pass-through fibers, making them easy to deploy across every network connection point. Plus, they enable a fully preterminated experience in the distribution network, eliminating the need for costly, disruptive field work. Technicians simply plug in feeder and distribution cables with factory-installed hardened connectors - meaning no field splicing is required from the cabinet out.
An expanded array of factory-installed, sealed network access points with single-fiber and multifiber options. Enabling fast, plug-and-play connectivity, these products now allow network operators to deliver a tailored mix of fiber counts for residential, business, wireless backhaul, and wholesale purposes - all from the same network location.
By eliminating splice points and offering an innovative plug-and-play cabinet, the multiuse platform's benefits include up to 50 percent savings in labor costs compared with field-termination methods, plus the assurance of factory-terminated performance. Furthering the value of traditional preconnectorized solutions, the new multiuse platform reduces total installed cost by up to 20 percent.
"Committed to enabling a world where everyone has access to broadband connectivity, Corning continuously invests in R&D to innovate technology that addresses customer challenges including speed of deployment, labor costs, performance, and network future-readiness," Whitman said.
Corning is the leader in optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions. Since ushering in the communications revolution with the invention of low-loss optical fiber more than four decades ago, we continue to leverage our core technologies, manufacturing assets, and close customer collaborations to deliver innovations that increase speed and capacity, while reducing installation costs, for next-generation networks.
Since 2004, Corning's preterminated products including the FlexNAP(TM) system and OptiTip® connector have enabled mass deployment of fiber to the home. Today, Corning's solutions have passed more than 35 million homes worldwide.
Also at Fiber Connect, Corning will highlight its end-to-end solutions, from the central office to the subscriber premises. Additionally, Corning experts will speak in technical forums about the short- and long-term benefits of optical fiber in access networks.
Among the Corning experts will be Kevin Bourg, optical network architect for Corning Optical Communications, who will present "Network Convergence of Carrier Services" at 9:45 a.m. on June 12. Bourg will demonstrate how a single converged fiber network supporting both wireline and wireless operations can deliver a 15-50 percent cost savings to operators.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which are based on current expectations and assumptions about Corning's financial results and business operations, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include: the effect of global political, economic and business conditions; conditions in the financial and credit markets; currency fluctuations; tax rates; product demand and industry capacity; competition; reliance on a concentrated customer base; manufacturing efficiencies; cost reductions; availability of critical components and materials; new product commercialization; pricing fluctuations and changes in the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new plant start-up or restructuring costs; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict, political or financial instability, natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, or major health concerns; adequacy of insurance; equity company activities; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory; the rate of technology change; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; retention of key personnel; stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation or regulatory developments. These and other risk factors are detailed in Corning's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.
Digital Media Disclosure
In accordance with guidance provided by the SEC regarding the use of company websites and social media channels to disclose material information, Corning Incorporated ("Corning") wishes to notify investors, media, and other interested parties that it intends to use its website (http://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events.html) to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. The list of websites and social media channels that the company uses may be updated on Corning's media and website from time to time. Corning encourages investors, media, and other interested parties to review the information Corning may publish through its website and social media channels as described above, in addition to the company's SEC filings, press releases, conference calls, and webcasts.
About Corning Incorporated
Corning (www.corning.com) is one of the world's leading innovators in materials science. For more than 160 years, Corning has applied its unparalleled expertise in specialty glass, ceramics, and optical physics to develop products that have created new industries and transformed people's lives. Corning succeeds through sustained investment in R&D, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and close collaboration with customers to solve tough technology challenges. Corning's businesses and markets are constantly evolving. Today, Corning's products enable diverse industries such as consumer electronics, telecommunications, transportation, and life sciences. They include damage-resistant cover glass for smartphones and tablets; precision glass for advanced displays; optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions for high-speed communications networks; trusted products that accelerate drug discovery and manufacturing; and emissions-control products for cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles.
Media Relations Contacts:
Justin Nicolette
(828) 901-6994
nicolettj@corning.com
Joe Dunning
(607) 974-5006
dunningjm@corning.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Ann H.S. Nicholson
(607) 974-6716
nicholsoas@corning.com
Follow Corning: RSS Feeds | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Corning Incorporated via Globenewswire
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