Corning Collaborates With Apple For Advanced iPhone 15 Glass, Reports Q3 Sales Decline

Corning Inc GLW reported a third-quarter FY23 core sales decline of 6% year-on-year to $3.46 billion, missing the consensus of $3.5 billion. Core EPS of 45 cents missed the consensus of 47 cents. Display Technologies sales grew by 42% Y/Y and 5% Q/Q to $972 million.  

Optical Communications sales declined by 30% Y/Y and 14% Q/Q to $918 million due to lower volume.

Specialty Materials sales increased by 8% Y/Y and up by 33% Q/Q % to $563 million, reflecting higher Gorilla Glass sales and continued solid demand for semiconductor materials. 

Life Sciences sales decreased by 26% Y/Y and flattish Q/Q to $230 million, reflecting lower demand for COVID-related products.

Environmental Technologies sales grew by 6% Y/Y and declined by 2% Q/Q to $449 million, driven by ongoing gasoline particulate filter adoption growth in China.

Core gross margin increased by 90 bps to 37%, primarily due to Display Technologies' pricing actions.

The free cash flow improved to $466 million, up by $211 million yearly.

Corning "once again worked with Apple Inc AAPL to advance the state of the art for smartphones, delivering durable color-infused glass — a first for any smartphone — for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus," CEO Wendell P. Weeks said.

Outlook: Corning sees Q4 core sales of $3.25 billion (consensus $3.56 billion) and core EPS of 37 cents - 42 cents (consensus 42 cents).

Price Action: GLW shares traded lower by 4.38% at $25.75 premarket on the last check Tuesday.