Corning (GLW) Accelerates Vial Manufacturing at Durham Facility
In order to combat the growing menace of increasing coronavirus cases through the fast-immunization process, Corning Incorporated GLW recently accelerated its vial manufacturing operations at its Durham facility. The company has launched a new variety of vials in addition to its existing capacity to boost production rates. While contributing to the overall cause of vaccination and treatment of COVID-19 patients as part of corporate social responsibilities, the strategic move is likely to help Corning strengthen its position as a leading pharmaceutical packaging provider within the healthcare segment.
Leveraging proprietary technology, Corning has launched Velocity Vials – borosilicate vials with patented uniform coating – to improve manufacturing efficiency and lower production costs. Compared to traditional borosilicate packaging, Velocity Vials offer 20-50% improvement in efficiency, up to a 96% reduction in glass particulates and a 3x reduction in the likelihood of damage that leads to cracks and breaks. This, in turn, is likely to result in consistent production and less downtime for faster manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to help address industry supply chain challenges and meet global demand.
Corning is also speeding up the production of indigenously-built Valor Glass, which is specifically designed for pharmaceutical use with superior chemical durability and minimal particulate contamination for faster and more reliable drug manufacturing and delivery. Valor Glass showcases specialized glass qualities that make it up to 10 times stronger than conventional borosilicate glass, thereby reducing the probability of damage and breakage during manufacturing and shipping. It enables faster filling and capping that improves manufacturing throughput by as much as 50% compared with conventional filling lines and reduces the time required to manufacture vaccines and therapies.
The high-quality standards equip Valor Glass to be more effective than conventional vials for highly specialized formulations typically used in next-generation therapies to counter deadly diseases like the coronavirus. Corning expects to produce about 500 million glass vials per year in this Durham, NC facility.
Notwithstanding challenging macroeconomic conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Corning expects to witness 6-8% compound annual sales growth and 12-15% compound annual earnings per share growth through 2023 while investing $10-$12 billion in research, development & engineering, capital, and mergers and acquisitions. It plans to expand its operating margin and return on invested capital and deliver $8-$10 billion to shareholders, including an annual dividend per share increase of at least 10%. To achieve its goals, the company expects to add an incremental $3-$4 billion in annual sales and improve profitability by the end of 2023. The company is extending performance under its 2020-2023 Strategy & Growth Framework, and focusing on improving its product portfolio and utilizing financial strength to enhance shareholder returns.
The stock has gained 0.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s rise of 13.5%. Nevertheless, we remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock.
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A better-ranked stock in the industry is SeaChange International, Inc. SEAC, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
SeaChange delivered an earnings surprise of 37.2%, on average, in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term growth expectation of 10%. Earnings estimates for the current year for the stock have moved up 35.7% since January 2021. Over the past year, SeaChange has gained a solid 166.1%.
KVH Industries, Inc. KVHI, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, is another solid pick for investors. It delivered an earnings surprise of 50%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.
Despite global supply chain disruptions, KVH Industries is driving growth and margin expansion through new product introduction and subscriber migration to High-Throughput Satellites. The company aims to make decisive inroads into the still-nascent autonomous transportation markets with a strong balance sheet position and zero debt. If KVH Industries manages to effectively mitigate the supply chain woes, there could be further room for cash flow expansion.
Harmonic Inc. HLIT carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 15% and delivered an earnings surprise of 61.1%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.
Over the past year, Harmonic has gained 59.3%. The company boasts a thriving ecosystem of technology partners that ensures access to a broad portfolio of third-party products and applications with seamless workflow integration.
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