Corning’s 3Q profit rises 3 percent

Specialty glass maker Corning Inc. said Wednesday its profit rose 3 percent in the third quarter, lifted by surging sales of glass for flat-panel televisions and optical fiber.

The results handily beat Wall Street expectations. Its shares rose almost 5 percent in premarket trading.

The world’s largest maker of liquid-crystal-display glass reported net income of $811 million, or 51 cents per share, in the July-September period. That’s up from $785 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, earnings were 51 cents per share. That was well above Wall Street expectations of 42 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 30 percent to $2.08 billion from $1.6 billion. Analysts expected $2.03 billion.

Its shares rose 68 cents to $14.40 in premarket trading.