Based on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, information heart operators might spend as much as $4 trillion yearly on upgrading their infrastructure to fulfill demand from synthetic intelligence (AI) builders by 2030. Because the provider of the world’s finest chips for AI workloads, his firm will profit considerably from that spending, however so will a protracted listing of different suppliers of chips, elements, and gear.
Corning(NYSE: GLW) is one in every of them, and it typically flies below the radar within the AI house. The corporate is finest recognized for supplying the glass for Apple‘s iPhone since 2007, however its fiber optic cables for information facilities are serving to AI builders transfer info between chips and gadgets a lot quicker than conventional copper options.
Corning inventory soared by 84% in 2025, crushing Nvidia inventory, which climbed by a still-respectable 39%. The corporate is scheduled to report its working outcomes for the fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31) on Jan. 28, and they’re prone to cap off the strongest yr in its historical past. Extra importantly, buyers will get a primary have a look at administration’s steering for 2026, which might dictate the route of the inventory from right here.
Picture supply: Getty Photographs.
AI improvement requires a considerable quantity of computing energy, which is why most of it occurs in massive information facilities crammed with hundreds of specialised chips and elements. Graphics processing items (GPUs) are the first chips utilized in AI workloads, and they’re supported by different {hardware} like central processing items (CPUs), high-bandwidth reminiscence, storage chips, and extra.
Knowledge must journey between these chips and elements as shortly as attainable to unlock most efficiency from every GPU. Fiber optic cables are recognized for his or her means to maneuver info at a lot quicker speeds, and over a lot additional distances than their copper counterparts, and with minimal information loss.
Proper now, a typical Nvidia NV-Hyperlink node makes use of round 2 miles of copper cable to attach 72 GPUs with the opposite elements within the stack, however Corning says information heart operators are shortly transitioning to fiber as an alternative. Plus, as each new technology of AI software program grows hungrier for computing capability than the final, nodes are regularly getting greater, which implies extra GPUs and considerably extra cabling.
That is why Corning CEO Wendell Weeks believes the marketplace for information heart fiber might double and even triple in measurement from right here, creating an unprecedented alternative for the corporate.
Corning generated $12 billion in core income throughout the first three quarters of 2025 (ended Sept. 30), which was a 13% enhance from the year-ago interval. Its optical communications phase accounted for $4.57 billion of that income, and it grew at a a lot quicker tempo of 39%, fueled by AI-related demand.
In truth, throughout the third quarter of 2025, enterprise optical communications income (which is particularly extra AI-focused) soared by a whopping 58%.
Corning will report its fourth-quarter working outcomes on Jan. 28, and administration’s steering factors to $4.35 billion in core income. It might take the corporate’s core income to $16.3 billion for the entire of 2025, representing a 13% enhance from the prior yr. That will be a notable acceleration from the 7% development that Corning produced in 2024, which actually highlights its AI-driven momentum.
Jan. 28 may also give buyers their first have a look at administration’s steering for 2026. Wall Avenue’s consensus estimate (offered by Yahoo! Finance) suggests Corning’s whole income might develop by round 13% to $18.4 billion this yr, however I will not be stunned if the corporate does even higher on the again of robust demand for information heart fiber.
Corning produced adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings of $2.38 per share over the past 4 quarters, giving its inventory a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 39.5. Subsequently, it is cheaper than Nvidia, which trades at a P/E ratio of 45.9. It is also less expensive than one other main semiconductor gear provider, Broadcom, which trades at a P/E ratio of 51.5.
Wall Avenue’s consensus forecast suggests Corning’s earnings will develop to $3.09 per share in 2026, inserting its inventory at a ahead P/E ratio of simply 30.5. Meaning its inventory must climb by 29.5% by the tip of this yr simply to take care of its present P/E ratio of 39.5.
Surging demand for fiber optic cables is giving Corning unimaginable pricing energy, so its optical communications enterprise is very worthwhile proper now. In truth, the phase’s web earnings soared by 69% yr over yr throughout the third quarter, and it accounted for half of the corporate’s whole web earnings. If this momentum continues, it is attainable that Corning’s earnings will are available in even larger than anticipated this yr, which may very well be a recipe for an excellent higher return in its inventory.
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Anthony Di Pizio has no place in any of the shares talked about. The Motley Idiot has positions in and recommends Apple, Corning, and Nvidia. The Motley Idiot recommends Broadcom. The Motley Idiot has a disclosure coverage.
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