Corning: Street Gets More Bullish As Earnings Approach

Corning (GLW) shares are getting a lift today from a pair of upbeat notes from the Street. Citigroup analyst Jim Suva this morning repeated his Buy rating and $16 price target, noting that new data show improvement in LCD panel pricing for both monitors and notebooks. Pricing for LCD panels was flat, but he says “indications are that prices will soon move higer.” Suva notes that LG Display (LPL) guided to Q2 panel shipment growth in the mid-to-high 20% range, with higher ASPS, on strong LCD TV demand and a potential glass shortage. “Continued firm panel pricing, improving panel maker profitability and ramping panel maker utilizations are all positive for GLW and support our view of near-term restocking,” he writes. UBS analyst Nikos Theodosopoulos this morning repeated his Neutral rating on the stock, but upped his target to $15, from $11. The UBS analyst raised his ‘09 EPS estimate to 67 cents, from 65 cents; for 2010 he goes to 97 cents, from 84 ... (link)