Corning Inc. reports financial results. What they tell us about layoffs, 2024 outlook

Jeff Smith, Corning Leader
·2 min read

Corning Inc. reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 financial results Tuesday, providing some insight into a recent workforce reduction of 1,000 employees globally, including around 200 in the Corning area.

Demand in most of the company's markets is temporarily depressed due to supply change corrections and macroeconomic factors, Wendell P. Weeks, Corning Inc.’s chief executive officer, said Tuesday morning during a conference call.

“Therefore, our sales are well below long-term trends,” Weeks said. “Nevertheless, the actions we took to improve our profitability and cash flow generations through 2023 are evident in our financial performance.”

Corning Inc. reported that core sales were $13.6 billion in 2023, down 8%. GAAP sales, meanwhile, were down 11% for the year at $12.6 billion. In the fourth quarter, GAAP and core sales declined 12% and 10%, respectively. The company reported adjusted free cash flow of $880 million for 2023.

The recent job cuts represented approximately 2% of the company’s global workforce of about 50,000, a Corning Inc. spokesperson said.

Corning’s markets include optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display, automotive, solar, semiconductor, and life sciences.

A look inside Corning Inc.'s Valor Glass Lab. The company reported its fourth quarter and 2023 full-year financial results Tuesday after a recent workforce reduction of 1,000 global employees.
A look inside Corning Inc.'s Valor Glass Lab. The company reported its fourth quarter and 2023 full-year financial results Tuesday after a recent workforce reduction of 1,000 global employees.

What is Corning Inc.'s 2024 forecast?

Weeks said Corning Inc. is confident the company has extended its leadership position across its markets heading into 2024.

“Current sales are below trend. We expect that to change in mid-term as our markets begin to normalize,” Weeks said. “This makes an opportunity for us to increase sales by more than $3 billion when that happens. As we capture that growth, we expect to deliver powerful incremental profit and cash flow, which is a terrific opportunity for our shareholders.”

Weeks said Corning Inc. already has the required production capacity and technical capability in place to capture growth.

Ed Schlesinger, Corning Inc. executive vice president, said he expects first-quarter 2024 core sales of about $3.1 billion and core EPS in the range of $0.32 to $0.38.

At look at the Corning Inc. Corporate Headquarters building off Market Street.
At look at the Corning Inc. Corporate Headquarters building off Market Street.

“We anticipate the first quarter to be the low quarter of the year and to drive profitable, durable growth over the long term,” Schlesinger said.

“In the fourth quarter (of 2023), we grew core gross margin by 330 basis points versus the fourth quarter of 2022, and adjusted free cash flow improved to $487 million,” Schlesinger added. “Our results in the quarter — and throughout 2023 – reflect the benefits of our actions to increase price, improve our productivity ratios, and reduce inventory.”

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Corning Inc. highlighted a handful of product initiatives, including in its Gorilla Armor smartphone cover materials, advancing optical innovations in broadband, 5G, cloud computing and advanced AI, creating the next generation of automotive-interior displays, and helping automakers turn windows into system-enabling components.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: What Corning Inc. financial report says about job cuts, 2024 outlook