Q4 2025 sales grew 14% YoY to a record $4.41 billion (CEO); EPS grew 26% to $0.72 (CEO); operating margin expanded 170 bps to 20.2% (CEO); ROIC expanded 150 bps to 14.2% (CEO); free cash flow was $732 million (CFO).
Full-year 2025 sales grew 13% to a record $16.4 billion (CFO); EPS grew 29% to $2.52 (CFO); operating margin expanded 180 bps to 19.3% (CFO); free cash flow was $1.72 billion (CEO).
Optical Communications: Q4 sales $1.7 billion, up 24% YoY; net income $305 million, up 57% YoY; net income margin 18% (CFO). Full-year sales $6.3 billion, up 35% YoY; net income $1 billion, up 71% YoY (CFO). Enterprise business grew 61% YoY; Carrier Networks up 15% YoY (CFO).
Display: Q4 sales $955 million; net income $257 million (CFO). Full-year net income $993 million, above target of $900–$950 million; net income margin 17% (CFO). Q1 2026 glass market/volume expected down mid-single digits sequentially (CFO).
Specialty Materials: Q4 sales $544 million, up 6% YoY; net income $99 million, up 22% YoY (CFO). Full-year sales $2.2 billion, up 10% YoY; net income $367 million, up 41% YoY (CFO).
Automotive: Q4 sales $440 million, down slightly YoY; net income $63 million, up 3% YoY (CFO). Full-year sales down 3% YoY; net income up 7% YoY (CFO).
Life Sciences: Full-year sales $972 million, consistent with prior year; net income $61 million (CFO).
Hemlock & Emerging Growth: Q4 sales $526 million, up 62% YoY; net income $1 million, down YoY due to solar ramp costs (CFO).
CapEx: Full-year 2026 expected ~$1.7 billion, a few hundred million above depreciation (CFO).
Official guidance (Q1 2026): Core sales $4.2–$4.3 billion, up ~15% YoY; EPS $0.66–$0.70, up ~26% YoY (CFO). Q1 guidance includes temporary solar ramp impact of ~$0.03–$0.05 (CFO).
SpringBoard upgrade: Internal plan now adds $11 billion incremental annualized sales by 2028 (up from $8B); high-confidence plan adds $5.75 billion by 2026 (up from $4B) (CEO). Internal plan adds $6.5 billion by 2026 (up from $6B) (CEO).
Mgmt Quotes
“We delivered another excellent quarter. Year over year, sales grew 14% to $4.41 billion, and EPS grew 26% to $0.72.” (CEO)
“We are upgrading our original SpringBoard plan to now add $11 billion in incremental annualized sales by 2028, up from our original $8 billion.” (CEO)
“Our internal plan now adds $6.5 billion in incremental annualized sales by 2026, up from the previous $6 billion plan. Our high-confidence plan now adds $5.75 billion in sales by 2026, up from the previous $4 billion plan.” (CEO)
“We expect to generate significantly more free cash flow year over year while continuing to invest strongly in our growth vectors, aided by customer financial support.” (CFO)
“We are not changing our operating margin target at this time… Our target is to continue to be at 20% or above on operating margin.” (CFO)
Topic: Optical scale-up revenue timing and solar margin ramp
Key points:
Scale-up (photons replacing electrons in short-reach links) is not included as significant revenue in the SpringBoard upgrade; it would be incremental.
Photon transmission uses >3x lower power than electrons at short lengths, advantage can be 20x+ at higher bit rates or longer distances.
Solar factory ramp in Q1 2026 is expected to create a $0.03–$0.05 EPS drag (Q4 2025 drag was slightly more than $0.03).
Solar business expected to reach margins at or above Corning average by 2028.
Mgmt stance: Neutral on scale-up timing (conservative, no compelling evidence for timing within 2028); bullish on solar margins (expects improvement through 2026, reaching corporate average by 2028).
Q7 — Tim Long
Topic: Carrier business cyclicality and display net income/yen sensitivity
Key points:
Carrier business grew ~15% in 2025, majority driven by data center interconnect (DCI); fiber-to-the-home also expected to grow.
Carrier growth over next several years is factored into SpringBoard, with DCI as the largest driver.
Display net income target is $900M–$950M; 2025 was slightly above that range.
Display margin percentage was slightly above target; 2026 could be above target again.
Yen assumption in display plan is 120 yen; if yen weakens further, price adjustments or other actions will be taken to maintain profitability.
Mgmt stance: Bullish on carrier (secular growth from DCI, not just cyclical); neutral on display (confident in maintaining $900M–$950M net income, with flexibility to adjust for yen).