Corning Stock Jumps on Deal With Meta. Glass Maker Is an AI Darling.
By Nate Wolf
Jan 27, 2026, 10:38 am EST
A fiber-optic access point, part of the Corning Edge 8 series, is displayed at the company’s Sullivan Park Science & Technology Center in Corning, New York (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)
Key Points
About This Summary
- Corning secured a multiyear deal with Meta Platforms, valued at up to $6 billion, to supply cabling, optical fiber, and connectivity solutions for data centers.
- Corning’s stock increased by 12% to $106.61 following the announcement. The price has more than doubled over the past 12 months.
- The agreement will boost Corning’s North Carolina workforce by 15% to 20%, lifting it past 5,000 employees, and support Meta effort to buy hardware domestically.
Shares of Corning
GLW+18.65% rose sharply after the glass maker unveiled a multiyear deal worth up to $6 billion to help Meta PlatformsMETA-0.37% build data centers.
Corning will supply Meta with cabling, optical fiber, and connectivity solutions for data centers across the U.S.. As part of the agreement, Corning will add capacity to its optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, N.C., where Meta will be the “anchor customer,” and expand its manufacturing footprint across the state.
Corning stock jumped 12% to $106.61 on Tuesday. Meta stock was down 0.6%.
Corning runs two of the world’s largest cable and optical fiber factories in North Carolina. The deal with Meta will allow the company to boost its workforce in the state by 15% to 20% to more than 5,000 employees, said CEO Wendell P. Weeks.
At the same time, the agreement will help Meta with its effort to source materials domestically for its vast data-center buildout.
“This collaboration will help create good-paying, skilled U.S. jobs, strengthen local economies, and help secure the U.S. lead in the global AI race,” said Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer.
Corning has emerged as a darling of the artificial-intelligence trade over the last year. As the maker of glass iPhone screens, the company is often associated with Apple
AAPL+1.91%. But it also produces optical fiber and cabling, two in-demand components for AI data centers.
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Corning shares have more than doubled over the last 12 months, reaching heights not seen since the cable boom of the dot-com era. The stock is now just a few dollars off its record closing high of $113.10 a share, set on Sept. 1, 2000.
The company reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
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