Corning CFO Jim Flaws said growing demand for flat-screen televisions increases the chances that the specialty glass maker will boost its estimate for the LCD glass market. He also said the time may be right for Corning to consider acquisitions of small or medium-sized businesses.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Corning's credit outlook to "Negative" from "Stable" on Tuesday, citing a falloff in demand that began late last year.

As LCD television buyers moved toward larger-larger screen models, Corning Inc. had to move to keep up.

Corning, the biggest maker of glass for flat-panel televisions, will eliminate about 3,500 jobs this year after fourth-quarter profit plunged 65% on slowing demand for TVs and computer monitors.

...And then came July. First, AUO reported lower-than-expected revenues for June. Then LG Display warned that LCD "demand will be soft in July and August and panel prices will continue to fall." Third in line came Sony, which announced that demand for large-screen LCD TVs is so much less than expected that it's been forced to cut production at one of its US plants. Contradicting Weeks' assertion of "reasonable" inventory levels among Corning customers, Sony warned that it has to work down some of its "accumulated inventory."..