Why 2017 Was a Year to Remember for Corning Inc.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) enjoyed quite a year in 2017 and, no, that's not a reference to the stock's 32% gain, a rise that easily outpaced the S&P 500's returns. While it's always nice to see the stocks we hold go up in price, long-term minded investors know that a focus on a company's prospects and fundamentals is far more important to sustained investment success than short term price movements. When investors check under the hood of Corning, there is a lot to like.

This year Corning received a $200 million investment from the world's biggest company, signed a $1 billion-plus deal with one of the country's largest wireless networks, and announced the development of a new product that might end up being a $4 billion opportunity in a new market. Each of these announcements underlines a different and promising line of business for the company, illustrating how much Corning has transformed itself since being almost solely a display glass manufacturer, with earnings that were notoriously cyclical and often based on glass prices, a factor outside its control. Let's take a closer look at these growing lines of business to better appreciate the great year Corning just had.

Data source: Corning Inc. Third-Quarter 2017 earnings press release

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Source: Fool.com