Corning’s glass more than half full

The slowing economy isn’t hurting Corning (GLW). The maker display glass for televisions and computers posted a strong first quarter and guided to more of the same for the second quarter, citing robust demand for liquid crystal display televisions. The Corning, N.Y., company made $1.03 billion, or 64 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, up from the year-ago $717 million, or 45 cents a share. Excluding a gain tied to the bankruptcy of its Pittsburgh Corning affiliate, Corning made 44 cents a share in the latest quarter, two cents better than the Wall Street estimate.

“This was a tremendously strong quarter for Corning,” said CEO Wendell Weeks. “Display glass demand remains robust and we continue to operate our LCD glass substrate facilities at full capacity. The global consumer appetite for LCD televisions continues to grow.” Weeks said Corning now expects the global LCD glass market to grow at the upper end of its previously targeted 25% to 30% range.

The company said it expects the strong demand to translate into better-than-expected results for the second quarter. Corning expects to make 47 to 50 cents a share on sales of $1.71 billion to $1.75 billion. Analysts were looking for a 43-cent profit on sales of $1.67 billion. “Global demand for LCD televisions and laptop computers remains strong going into the second quarter,” said finance chief James Flaws. “We continue to closely monitor the U.S. retail market, but we have not seen any indication that the U.S. slowdown is impacting our LCD glass business.”

Corning ranks No. 12 among Fortune’s 20 most profitable big techs.