This Manufacturing Company That Supplies Tech, Automotive, and Communication Industries is Quietly Outperforming Its Competitors. Is the Stock a Buy in 2026?

Corning (NYSE: GLW), a starring shaper of durable glass, optical components, and laboratory instrumentality for beingness subject companies, is often considered a slow-growth bluish spot stock. It was founded 175 years ago, and it's been successful the S&P 500 for the past 31 years.

Yet implicit the past 5 years, Corning's banal has rallied 223%, outpacing the S&P 500's 61% gain. It besides outperformed galore of its manufacture peers, including Vistance Networks (NASDAQ: VISN) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), whose stocks lone roseate 19% and 5%, respectively. Let's spot wherefore Corning's banal soared -- and if it inactive has country to run.

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From 2020 to 2025, Corning's halfway income (excluding currency fluctuations, mark-to-market adjustments, one-time expenses, and different noise) grew astatine a 7.5% CAGR. Its halfway net per stock (EPS) accrued astatine a 12.6% CAGR.

The pandemic and soaring involvement rates throttled Corning's maturation successful 2020 and 2023, respectively, but its income and EPS maturation accelerated again successful 2024 and 2025. Four large tailwinds drove that acceleration.

Data source: Corning.

First, the maturation of the unreality infrastructure and artificial quality (AI) markets drove much endeavor customers and hyperscalers to upgrade their information centers. As a result, its income of optical communications instrumentality -- the "plumbing" for those information centers -- skyrocketed.

Second, the apical telecom companies purchased much optical instrumentality from Corning to grow their 5G and fibre networks. Third, its income of solid products (including its show sheet and Gorilla Glass for user electronics and cars) roseate again arsenic those markets stabilized. Lastly, Corning's margins expanded arsenic it streamlined spending, accrued mill utilization, and generated much gross from its higher-margin optical business.

Corning's banal soared due to the fact that it was revalued arsenic a high-growth unreality and AI play. From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect its nett income and EPS to summation astatine CAGRs of 14% and 35% by mostly accepted accounting principles (GAAP), respectively, arsenic those tailwinds persist.