UPDATE: Corning Posts Downbeat Q2 Earnings, Sales Beat View

Corning GLW reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The Corning, New York-based company posted a quarterly profit of $169 million, or $0.11 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $638 million, or $0.43 per share. Excluding certain items, its core earnings increased to $0.37 from $0.32 per share. Its sales climbed 25% to $2.48 billion, while core sales jumped 28% to $2.58 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $2.53 billion. Sales in the Optical Communications segment rose 14% to $686 million, while Environmental Technologies segment sales jumped 25% to $285 million in the quarter. Core sales in Display Technologies segment jumped 62% to $1.1 billion, while Life Sciences segment sales rose 2% to $223 million. Corning's product costs increased 32%, while selling, general and administrative costs surged 20%. Wendell P. Weeks, chairman, chief executive officer and president, said, "We had great results in the quarter that led to our seventh consecutive year-over-year quarterly core earnings improvement. We have positive momentum, and we are well-positioned to deliver on our 2014 business plan.” Corning expects Q3 LCD glass volume to be up by a mid-single digit percentage, sequentially. It projects Q3 Optical Communications segment sales to rise by a mid-single digit percentage y/y. Corning shares rose 1.04% to $22.28 in pre-market trading.