Forensic Analysis · Primary Metals & Steel · as of Nov 8, 2026
Corning Inc (GLW)
A forensic read on Corning Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.6
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
14.2%
ROE
19.1%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Corning Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+15.0%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +15.0% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. Net operating assets also rose $31.0M through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by receivables up +35% against revenue +19% and inventory up +13% against +13% in cost of sales. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 6% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 15.0%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
8.4%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 8.4% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 3.1%. After-tax operating profit was $707M in FY2023 and $1.9B in FY2025, with operating income at 7.1% of revenue in FY2023, 8.7% in FY2024 and 14.6% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $22.7B in FY2023 to $23.0B in FY2025 (+1%), while the revenue it carried went from $12.6B to $15.6B.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$15.63B
Revenue Growth YoY+19.1%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+11.4%
Net Margin10.2%
Free Cash Flow$1.41B
Return on Equity14.2%
Debt / Equity0.71x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Corning Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?