Corning, Meta ink $6B deal supporting US manufacturing

Dive Temporary:

• Corning introduced on Monday that it has signed a multiyear, $6 billion agreement with software program developer Meta Platforms to develop manufacturing capabilities throughout its North Carolina amenities.
• Corning’s optical cable manufacturing unit in Hickory will profit from “important capability growth,” the place Meta will function the anchor buyer, in accordance with the Jan. 27 press launch. Moreover, the settlement will improve Corning’s employment progress by as much as 20% and maintain a workforce of over 5,000 staff within the state.
• The producer will provide Meta with the newest in optical fiber, cable and connectivity merchandise. Moreover, it’s going to assist speed up the build-out of Meta’s information facilities in the USA, which can help its apps, applied sciences and synthetic intelligence objectives.

Dive Perception:

Corning’s optical communications phase operates two fiber manufacturing vegetation in Wilmington and Harmony, North Carolina, John Arwood, senior supervisor, govt and exterior communications at Corning, stated in an e mail on Thursday. Corning additionally has 5 cable vegetation positioned in Newton, Winston-Salem, and Hickory, the latter of which has a number of amenities.

In October 2025, Corning introduced plans to take a position between $170 million and $267.9 million to expand its manufacturing operations in Hickory. The corporate acquired lots within the Trivium Company Middle in Hickory, and the funding would rent and preserve a minimal of 132 jobs.

Arwood stated that the beforehand introduced Hickory initiative is a part of the Meta announcement. He declined to supply additional particulars of the growth.

The Meta settlement displays Corning’s dedication to develop, create and manufacture vital applied sciences to energy new information facilities within the U.S., Wendell Weeks, chairman, president and CEO, stated in an earnings call on Wednesday.

“Along with Meta, we’re strengthening home provide chains and serving to be sure that superior information facilities are constructed utilizing U.S. innovation and U.S. superior manufacturing,” Weeks stated.

The producer noticed its fourth quarter internet gross sales improve 20% yr over yr to $4.2 billion, according to a securities filing. Internet gross sales for the total yr of 2025 elevated 19% to $15.6 billion. 

Sector-wise, This fall gross sales below Corning’s optical communications enterprise had been $1.7 billion, up 24% YoY. Gross sales for the total yr totaled $6.3 billion, up 35% from 2024. Edward Schlesinger, govt VP and CFO, stated on the earnings name that almost all of the expansion was pushed by “excellent” adoption of Corning’s new Gen AI merchandise.

“For the total yr, our enterprise enterprise, the place we seize gross sales for inside the info middle grew 61% year-over-year, and the hyperscale information middle portion of our enterprise grew considerably quicker,” Schlesinger added. “We additionally noticed year-over-year gross sales progress in our service networks enterprise, which was up 15% for the total yr. This progress was primarily pushed by gross sales to interconnect information facilities.”

Meta is simply one of many main clients Corning has secured agreements with over the previous few months, notably for increasing its U.S. manufacturing footprint. In August 2025, Apple introduced it was committing $2.5 billion via its new American Manufacturing Program to fund the manufacturing of all iPhone and Apple Watch cowl glass at Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, manufacturing facility.  

Moreover, Corning will shift the power’s focus solely to manufacturing for Apple. The 2 firms additionally plan to determine an Apple-Corning Innovation Middle on the Harrodsburg plant, which can prioritize the event and engineering of superior supplies and new manufacturing platforms for Apple’s future merchandise.

“Taken collectively, these agreements allow Corning to supply our clients with safe U.S. origin manufacturing of our most superior Gen AI high-density improvements,” Weeks stated.

The Meta and Apple offers help Corning’s “Springboard” progress technique, which Weeks stated the corporate launched in January 2024. Initially, the corporate set an annualized gross sales objective of $6 billion by the top of 2026. Now, executives upgraded the plan to $6.5 billion by the top of the yr. The corporate additionally raised its authentic $8 billion objective of incremental annualized gross sales to $11 billion by 2028.

“The expansion we’re seeing in optical communications is a vital element of the Springboard improve we’re offering right this moment,” Schlesinger stated. “We count on this phase to proceed to drive important progress. Our latest Meta announcement is a superb proof level.”

The multiyear partnership bolsters Meta’s $600 billion investment to assemble AI information facilities throughout the nation. So far, 26 information facilities are below development or operational within the U.S., Meta said in its press release.

“As digital instruments and generative AI proceed to rework our economic system — in fields like healthcare, finance, agriculture, and extra — the demand for fiber connectivity will proceed to develop,” the Fb app developer stated in a press release. 

Whereas Corning was not talked about throughout Meta’s earnings call on Wednesday, CFO Susan Li stated the corporate is constant to prioritize “long-term flexibility” to adapt to the evolving market. 

“We’re doing so in a number of methods, together with altering how we develop information middle websites, establishing strategic partnerships, contracting cloud capability and establishing new possession constructions for a few of our massive information middle websites,” Li stated.