Corning’s TV view sparkles

By Scott Moritz

Corning (GLW) says big TVs are still flying off the shelves.

The tech glassmaking giant stood by its financial forecast and says its outlook on flat-panel TV sales remains bright despite fears that consumers have let high fuel prices and credit constraints dim their spending plans.

“Corning has no evidence of an economic downturn impacting LCD TV sales in the U.S.,” CEO Wendell Weeks said in a press release. “In fact, LCD TV unit sales in the U.S. have been up at least 30% year over year for each of the first four months of this year and are expected to continue to be strong,” Weeks continued in the press release.

The encouraging comments come amid concerns that the slowing economy has caused consumers to pull back on big-ticket discretionary purchases like luxury TVs.

To help back up its claims, the company reiterated its second-quarter guidance. For the current period ending next month, Corning says it expects adjusted earnings in the range of 47 cents a share to 50 cents a share on sales of about $1.73 billion. This compares with a pro forma profit of 34 cents on $1.42 billion in sales in the year-ago period. Analysts expect a profit of 49 cents on $1.72 billion in sales for the second quarter, according to Yahoo Finance.