CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- Corning Inc. said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit tumbled 39 percent on lower sales volumes and prices of its liquid-crystal-display glass products.
The company, based in Corning, N.Y., makes Gorilla Glass is used in iPhones, among other products. Corning earned $462 million, or 30 cents per share, down from $755 million, or 47 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Excluding one-time items, the company's adjusted profit was 31 cents per share. That was a penny below the average estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue fell short of analysts' predictions for $2.02 billion, edging down less than a percent to $1.91 billion from $1.92 billion.
Corning said that sales volumes of LCD glass at its display technologies business fell by the "mid-single digits." While LCD prices continued to fall during the quarter, the declines were not as steep as in past periods. Overall display technologies sales fell 16 percent to $641 million, the company said.
Sales of specialty materials, which include Gorilla Glass, rose 5 percent to $296 million.
Corning said it remains concerned about Europe's continued economic problems and the slowdown in China's economic growth, noting that it saw signs that the global economic uncertainty was affecting its businesses during the recent quarter.
"We are alert to the fact that the economic woes may grow, and consumers may reduce their spending, which could impact our customers," Wendell Weeks, Corning's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "If we see further weakness, we will respond with appropriate actions."
The company expects third-quarter earnings to fall about 30 percent from second-quarter levels. The second quarter had an $11 million gain that will not be in third-quarter results, and summer factory shutdowns will affect earnings as well.
The guidance implies a third-quarter profit of about 22 cents per share, well below average analyst predictions of 35 cents per share.
Corning added that it expects sales volumes of LCD glass to grow in the "low-double digits" from quarter to quarter, boosted by continued strong demand for tablet computers and larger TVs. Specialty materials sales are expected to rise 10 to 15 percent from second-quarter levels on higher demand for Gorilla Glass.
Corning shares fell 16 cents to $11.91 in morning trading.
