By Nate Wolf

Corning was the top stock in the S&P 500 on Tuesday after the glass maker unveiled a multiyear deal worth up to $6 billion to help Meta Platforms build data centers.

Corning will supply Meta with cabling, optical fiber, and connectivity solutions for data centers across the U.S.. As part of the agreement, Corning will add capacity to its optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, N.C., where Meta will be the "anchor customer," and expand its manufacturing footprint across the state.

Corning shares jumped 16% to $110.47 on Tuesday, putting the stock just off its all-time high of $113.10 a share, set on Sept. 1, 2000. Meta stock was down 0.3%.

Corning runs two of the world's largest cable and optical fiber factories in North Carolina. The deal with Meta will allow the company to boost its workforce in the state by 15% to 20% to more than 5,000 employees, said CEO Wendell P. Weeks.

At the same time, the agreement will help Meta with its effort to source materials domestically for its vast data-center buildout.

"This collaboration will help create good-paying, skilled U.S. jobs, strengthen local economies, and help secure the U.S. lead in the global AI race," said Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer.

Corning has emerged as a darling of the artificial-intelligence trade over the last year. As the maker of glass iPhone screens, the company is often associated with Apple. But it also produces optical fiber and cabling, two in-demand components for AI data centers.

Corning shares have more than doubled over the last 12 months, reaching heights not seen since the cable boom of the dot-com era.

The company reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com

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January 27, 2026 11:28 ET (16:28 GMT)

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