Corning CEO: Big BEAD Effects Won't Be Seen Until Next Year

Corning doesn't expect to start seeing notable revenues from BEAD until 2026, CEO Wendell Weeks told analysts Wednesday as the company announced Q4 results. Corning said that it had net sales of $3.5 billion in the quarter, up from $3 billion in Q4 2023 and that it expects Q1 2025 sales of $3.6 billion. Weeks said Corning started shipping fiber-optic product to Lumen this month for interconnection of that company's AI-enabled data centers and 10% of Corning's global fiber capacity this year and next is dedicated to Lumen. The company's optical communications sales for Q4 2024 were $1.4 billion, jumping from $900 million the same quarter a year earlier due to its AI products.