Corning's stock soared 9.63% intraday on Thursday, as the glassmaker benefited from a resurgence in the artificial intelligence trade and positive analyst sentiment.
The sharp rise follows target price upgrades from major financial institutions. BofA Securities raised its target price on Corning from $223 to $243 while maintaining an overweight rating, citing expectations that the company's Optical Communications segment will drive second-quarter revenue and earnings per share at or above guidance, with a stronger growth outlook for the second half remaining intact. This follows a previous target price increase to $270 by Mizuho, providing further valuation support for the stock.
The current rebound also reflects technical oversold conditions and bargain-hunting activity after Corning's stock had declined over 18% in early July. That previous drop was driven by market concerns that Meta's plan to sell excess AI computing capacity could lead cloud providers to cut optical communications capital expenditures. The broader market context also contributed, as the AI trade mounted a comeback on Thursday with investors getting over the worst of their fears about the flare-up in tensions between the U.S. and Iran.