Corning Earnings Preview: Analysts Expect Flat EPS, Rising Revenue Over Previous Quarter

Corning GLW announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to Corning's second quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Wall Street expects a EPS of 47 cents per share and revenues of $1.97 billion. Wall Street will be looking to see how this quarter's numbers compare to the year-ago quarter's positive EPS of 58 cents per share on revenues of $1.71 billion. We'll have to wait for Wednesday to see if Corning reports a decline in EPS and a boost in revenue from the year-ago quarter, as analysts are predicting.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
EPS Estimate	$0.44	$0.47	$0.52	$0.53
EPS Actual	$0.47	$0.46	$0.51	$0.58

Stock Performance:

Shares of Corning were trading at $17 as of July 21, 2011. Shares are down 11.6% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has declined by 4.2%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already wary of 12-month losses prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts for Corning is a Moderate Buy. The strength of this rating has declined slightly over the past three months.

Competitors:

Wondering how some of the other information technology companies are doing? Here are a few of Corning's peers in that sector.

• 3M Company MMM: Moderate Buy with a $1.49 recent quarter EPS
• Newport NEWP: Moderate Buy with a $0.35 recent quarter EPS
• PPG Industries PPG: Hold with a $1.40 recent quarter EPS
• II-VI Incorporated (IIVI): Hold with a $0.36 recent quarter EPS

The communications components company's industry has seen price/earnings growth of 1.5% during the current fiscal year.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Corning Inc. provides high-performance glass for LCD televisions, computer monitors, and other information display applications as well as optical fiber and cable products.

Take Action:

There is your peek into Corning's upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap of the announcement. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

• To see up-to-date news on Corning, click here
• To see other trading ideas, click here
• To see other company earnings recaps, click here