Corning’s second-quarter 2026 results showed a sharp step-up in sales and profit, led by optical communications and solar.
Net sales rose to $4.505 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 17% from $3.862 billion a year earlier. For the first half, sales increased 18% to $8.649 billion from $7.314 billion.
The biggest driver was optical communications, where sales jumped $506 million in the quarter and $997 million in the first six months. Polycrystalline silicon and solar products added another $207 million in the quarter and $371 million in the half.
Gross margin increased to $1.628 billion from $1.392 billion in the quarter, while the gross margin rate held at 36%. For the six-month period, gross margin rose to $3.156 billion from $2.606 billion, also at 36%. Corning said higher profit in Optical Communications was partly offset by temporarily higher costs to ramp solar capacity.
Cost of sales climbed to $2.877 billion in the quarter from $2.470 billion, and to $5.493 billion in the half from $4.708 billion.
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased to $608 million from $515 million in the quarter, and to $1.196 billion from $986 million in the half. SG&A stayed at 13% of sales in the quarter and 14% in the half. Corning said the increase was mainly from higher share-based compensation tied to the company’s stock price.
Research, development and engineering expense rose to $299 million from $276 million in the quarter, and to $577 million from $546 million in the half.
Translated earnings contract gain, net, fell to $90 million in the quarter from $131 million a year earlier, but increased to $74 million in the first half from $30 million. The quarter included $43 million of realized gain and $47 million of unrealized gain. In the first half, realized gain was $92 million and unrealized loss was $18 million.
Income before taxes increased to $649 million from $584 million in the quarter, and to $1.178 billion from $824 million in the half.
The provision for income taxes fell to $40 million from $84 million in the quarter, while rising to $161 million from $139 million in the half. Corning’s effective tax rate dropped to 6.2% from 14.4% in the quarter, and to 13.7% from 16.9% in the half.
Corning also said it entered into a cross-currency swap in the second quarter related to ¥15 billion of Japanese yen-denominated debt to lock in unrealized foreign exchange gains.
The company said it expects the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to have no material impact on its estimated annual effective tax rate in 2026. Today the company's shares have moved -0.31% to a price of $125.615. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 10-Q report here.
