Why analysts are watching it
Analysts are watching Corning (GLW) due to its critical role in the burgeoning AI data center market. On April 19, 2026, Business With Brian, in his video "The UNTHINKABLE Just Happened. Prep for the Dip!", highlighted that Corning manufactures the optical fiber cable essential for connecting servers, switches, and GPU clusters within data centers, including the fiber needed for millions of optical transceivers. He further emphasized that AI data centers demand 36 times more fiber than conventional server racks, leading to current lead times for ribbon fiber extending beyond 60 weeks. Business With Brian concluded that Corning represents a key player in the "physical materials" layer, where supply deficits are significant and protracted. However, investors should be aware that these are longer-term investment horizons.
Contributing creators
Source clips
"Corning makes [754s] the optical fiber cable that connects [756s] every server, every switch and every GPU [758s] cluster inside a data center and every [761s] one of those 63 million optical [763s] transceivers that we just talked about [765s] with Marvell requires fiber to carry [768s] that signal."
— The UNTHINKABLE Just Happened. Prep for the Dip!
"Now we're going to go ahead and round this out with Corning where the constraint is one multiplier. AI data centers require 36 times more fiber than a traditional server rack and lead times on ribbon fiber are already stretching past 60 weeks."
— The UNTHINKABLE Just Happened. Prep for the Dip!
"Now, onto the third layer which is the physical materials. That's Southern Copper and Corning. The supply deficits are real and they don't resolve quickly but these are longer time horizons."
— The UNTHINKABLE Just Happened. Prep for the Dip!