Paradis
AI & Technology Investment Research
Corning is a pretty safe bet on pluggables, LPO and CPO because basically everything uses more glass. Q2 earnings showed fairly high pricing power, and management said, roughly, that it would sell anything more it could make. Its long-term agreements essentially push capacity risk back to buyers. x.comÂ
Prepaid fiber orders make 2027-28 demand a stronger signal than capex plans. Corning reports $639M in net customer deposits in the first nine months and expects data-center interconnect to beat its former $1B-by-2030 target on timing and size. That backs Lumen's intercity build, though its next allocation may require a bigger commitment. Tight Corning supply gives Amphenol room to gain share until capacity expands; strong demand alone has not lifted stocks across the chain. x.comÂ
Corning's optical connectivity business is set to grow after Nvidia pushed it to expand that manufacturing capacity tenfold, while funds flow back into beaten-down quality names. Per @Venu_7_, optical sales rose 32% to $2.07 billion, EPS is expected to more than triple by 2028, and AI deals with Nvidia, Meta and Amazon back it. The chart retested its 200-day average with an Adam-and-Eve bottom and is breaking a small downtrend line. x.comÂ
Corning is the wrong instrument for glass substrates, the material set to replace organic substrates in AI chip packaging. Corning, AGC and Schott control about 90% of semiconductor-grade glass, and Corning works with TSMC with CHIPS Act funding. But substrates are a small part of a conglomerate whose growth comes mainly from AI optical fiber, trading at 90x earnings. The option value materializes in 2027-28; 2026 is for qualification, with yields at 75-85% and costs 2-3x organic. x.comÂ
Corning remains a long-term AI infrastructure winner even after Morgan Stanley's cooling note, as demand for fiber, optical materials and future glass substrates keeps growing. Per Morgan Stanley, the roughly 40% one-month rally outran fundamentals, driven by Fujikura's raised outlook, the GlassBridge fiber-to-chip platform, Nvidia long-haul fiber rumors and short covering, and high Q2 expectations could add volatility. GlassBridge gives Corning more room in next-generation optical links. x.comÂ
Corning is a big supply-chain bet because co-packaged optics are set to explode over the next one to two years, and glass could become 50x more important inside data centers over the next few generations of Nvidia systems. Corning is a one-of-a-kind, American-made technology leader, and its latest earnings call remarks focused entirely on co-packaged optics. Nvidia may push for glass as soon as 2027. At 83x trailing earnings the valuation is fair given a TAM many times its current business. … Show more
Corning's earnings were unexciting compared with its Chinese counterparts, and the stock could fall toward $130 if next week's investor day brings nothing big. Corning traditionally guides conservatively, so the event could still be a positive catalyst. @Gaetano2026 notes two new hyperscaler deals similar in size to Meta's and robust solar and optical demand, with some solar drag in Q2. x.com x.comÂ
Corning's $3.2 billion equity subscription agreement with NVIDIA deeply ties the two companies around co-packaged optics. NVIDIA is seeking more co-packaged optics, which signals that the next step after memory is optical transmission speed. Corning's capacity expansion also locks in customers, as both companies race to capture the CPO market. x.comÂ
Fiber and connectors account for almost 30% of co-packaged optics costs, enlarging Corning's opportunity in optical scale-up. Fiber and InP lasers are the bottlenecks in this reading of CPO; @carrioresearch reports that Corning supplied high-density arrays and connectors for Lightmatter's OCP trays. x.comÂ
Corning's $2B at-the-market facility with Goldman Sachs is an option to sell stock, not a raise, so Friday's after-hours drop priced dilution that may never happen. The 8-K says sales may be limited, depend on market conditions and capital needs, and fund general corporate purposes with no named project. Notably, Corning arranged it while its new revenue stream has not started; its CEO said scale-up and photonics are not yet in results. The next 10-Q will show whether the share count moves. … Show more
Lumentum is the only volume supplier of EML lasers for 1.6T optics, capacity is sold out, and indium phosphide fabs do not scale overnight. Qualcomm and Corning partnered with it on 1,060nm VCSEL chip-to-chip links targeting about 10 Tb/s. Revenue grew 109% and it trades at 30.6x forward earnings with $1.07B of net cash; a one-time $7.8B non-cash convert charge hid profitable operations. Risks are convert dilution and Coherent and Broadcom adding InP lasers before the shortage eases. x.comÂ
