pretty big news on GLW - they said that the growth in LCD glass sales would be flat or up just a few percentage, which is lower than expected. here is a good summary: yahoo.reuters.com
(the article quoted below is the Reuters article)
thestreet.com had a pretty negative on GLW's predicting ability: thestreet.com
Corning warns on LCD shipment growth, shares fall
Thu Dec 2, 2004 11:20 AM ET
By Deborah Cohen
CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Corning Inc. (GLW.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said shipments of liquid-crystal-display glass in Taiwan weakened last month after a strong October and lowered its fourth-quarter volume growth outlook, sending shares down 7 percent.
Corning, the world's largest maker of fiber optic cable for telecommunications, said it now expects fourth-quarter LCD volume growth to range from flat to up 3 percent from the third quarter, leading at least one analyst to lower his rating on the shares. The company had previously forecast growth of 3 to 10 percent in the fourth quarter.
Nevertheless, Corning backed its previous estimates for fourth-quarter revenue of $950 million to $1 billion and earnings of 10 to 12 cents per share before special items.
"This weakness in Taiwan is not uniform among customers, and we are reallocating some glass to other customers," Chief Financial Officer James Flaws said in prepared remarks to be delivered later Thursday at a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Flaws said that Corning expects to finish 2004 with overall LCD volume up 65 percent over the prior year. Corning makes LCD glass for televisions, VCRs and flat-panel computer displays.
"We think Corning's redefining its guidance this morning appears to be customer- rather than market-related, due to Taiwanese customers' pulling back their LCD glass orders too late in the quarter for Corning to reconfigure its capacity, leaving other customers still hungry for glass," wrote Needham & Co. analyst John Harmon in a research note.
Harmon reduced his rating on Corning stock to "buy" from "strong buy."
Offsetting weakness in the LCD business are stronger-than-expected quarter-to-date sales in Corning's telecommunications segment, the company said.
Corning said fiber volume in the fourth quarter could be down 5 percent to 10 percent, compared with prior expectations for a decline of 10 to 20 percent.
Corning shares fell 86 cents or 6.7 percent to $11.98, off an earlier low at $11.80, on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning. (With reporting by Daniel Burns in New York) |
