GLW Rides on Solid Traction in Optical Communication: Will it Sustain?

Corning Incorporated GLW is benefiting from healthy traction in the Optical Communications segment. The company generated $6.3 billion in revenues from this segment in 2025, registering impressive growth of 35% year over year. In 2025, the company’s enterprise network business grew a staggering 61% year over year. Corning started to ship data center products in early 2025, and its sales have increased significantly since then.

High bandwidth, optimized power consumption and reduced space usage are critical for AI workloads. Corning’s high-density fiber, cable and connectivity solutions effectively match these requirements.

Gen AI-driven data center buildouts are a major growth driver for Corning. The company has garnered solid market traction among hyperscaler customers. GLW recently inked a multiyear agreement with Meta Platforms. The deal is valued at $6 billion. Meta is set to utilize Corning’s leading-edge optical fiber, cable and connectivity products needed for high-speed AI data centers. Similar long-term agreements with other hyperscalers are under negotiation. GLW is set to benefit from hyperscaler AI data center spending in the upcoming quarters. The company’s carrier network business grew 15% year over year, backed by solid demand for data center interconnect.

Corning’s risk-sharing business model, which includes customer prepayments and stringent long-term customer commitments, reduces risk associated with fluctuating demand and capex. Such approach bodes well for sustainable growth.

How Are Competitors Faring?

Corning faces competition from Amphenol Corporation APH and Ciena Corporation CIEN in this domain. The growing use of AI and machine learning applications is driving demand for Amphenol’s high-speed power and fiber optic interconnect solutions.  Amphenol is witnessing solid traction in its Communications Solutions segment. The segment generated $3.42 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up 77.5% year over year.

Ciena has been diversifying its footprint in the data center connectivity vertical. It is increasingly investing in the data and optical fiber market to cash in on the tremendous growth opportunity presented by bandwidth demand from network service providers. Ciena generated $1.05 billion in revenues from the Networking Platforms segment, up 22% year over year.

Corning's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Corning has gained 152.3% compared to the communications components industry’s growth of 179.9%.

Earnings estimates for Corning for 2025 and 2026 have increased over the past 60 days.

Corning currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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