Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific stock market advice as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of the specific buy, hold and sell advice we offer you in our daily posts. Every week you get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “U.S. Stock Picks” on Thursday.

This week an Inner Circle member asked us about a company with a long-standing reputation for making glass. In business long enough to have supplied Thomas Edison while he worked on the incandescent light bulb, Corning has expanded into a wide variety of glass products, including many high-tech applications. Pat examines the company’s extensive operations and its latest products. He also looks at the rising share price in light of Corning’s research spending, sales, debt and earnings forecast.

Q: Hi, Pat: Could you kindly give me your opinion on Corning Inc.? Many thanks.

A: Corning Inc. (symbol GLW on New York; www.corning.com) started making glass products in 1851. The company has a long history of innovation, including producing bulbs for Thomas Edison’s first electric lights in 1879. In 1947, it became the first company to mass-produce cathode-ray tubes for TV sets.

Today, Corning makes advanced materials for a range of products at 70 plants in 15 countries. It gets about 55% of its sales from Asia.

The company has five divisions:

• Display Technologies, which supplied 40% of Corning’s 2014 sales, makes liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for computers and TV sets. The company has developed a manufacturing process that improves the quality of larger panels.

• Optical Communications (27% of 2014 sales) makes fibre optic cables and related gear for phone and cable companies.

• Specialty Materials (13% of sales) makes chemically strengthened glass and ceramic materials that manufacturers use in touch screens and optical sensors.

• Environmental Technologies (11% of sales) makes materials and components for car engine filters, including catalytic converters. These devices trap harmful emissions and help automakers comply with pollution-control laws.

• Life Sciences (9% of sales) makes glass and plastic tools and equipment for medical-research labs, hospitals and clinics.

In addition, the company owns 50% of Dow Corning Corp. (Dow Chemical Co. owns the other 50%), which makes silicone-based products like sealants, adhesives, lubricants and skin-care lotions. It also produces silicon wafers for solar panels.

Corning spends $1.9 billion to take full control of joint venture with Samsung

In January 2014, Corning paid $1.9 billion for the remaining 42.5% of a joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics that it didn’t already own. This business makes LCD glass panels. After the deal closed, Corning shortened its name from Samsung Corning Precision Materials to Corning Precision Materials.

Thanks largely to this purchase, Corning’s sales rose 24.2% in 2014, to $9.7 billion from $7.8 billion in 2013. Excluding foreign exchange rates, sales rose 28.5%.

Before unusual items, earnings increased 21.6%, to $2.2 billion from $1.8 billion. Per-share earnings gained 24.4%, to $1.53 from $1.23, on fewer shares outstanding.

Corning spent $1.2 billion (or 12.5% of its sales) on research in 2014, up 7.5% from $1.1 billion (or 14.4% of sales) in 2013. This spending helps it develop innovative products that could spur its sales for years to come.

Examples include a new material that makes Corning’s Gorilla Glass more scratch-resistant. Many mobile device makers already use Gorilla Glass, which is thinner and tougher than regular glass, and this innovation should help the company win deals to supply Gorilla Glass for other products, such as Apple’s new wristwatch.

Corning also recently unveiled another new product, Iris Glass, for ultra-thin TV sets. One version of Iris Glass has a silver-compound coating that reduces contamination from germs on touch screens.

The company holds cash of $6.1 billion, or $4.76 a share, and its long-term debt is just $3.2 billion. The stock has gained 30% in the past year and now trades at 15.5 times Corning’s forecast 2015 earnings of $1.60 a share. It yields 1.9%.

We view Corning as a hold.