Corning Glass: Unlikely AI Winner & UnitedHealth in Critical Condition

Summary

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Brew Markets – January 27, 2026

Episode: Corning Glass: Unlikely AI Winner & UnitedHealth in Critical Condition

Host: Ann Berry
Producer/Co-Host: John Cotton

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Episode Overview

On today's Brew Markets, Ann Berry and John Cotton break down a wave of news across some of the biggest names in the market. The main themes include Corning’s emergence as an unexpected beneficiary from the AI-driven data center boom, UnitedHealth's ongoing turnaround struggles in the spotlight of government and market pressures, and rapid-fire coverage of American Airlines, UPS, Amazon, and General Motors. Throughout, Ann and John offer sharp commentary, colorful analogies, and accessible explanations for investors navigating these turbulent sectors.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Corning: From Thomas Edison to Meta’s AI Ambitions

(00:32 – 04:05)

• Corning (GLW) Surges on Meta Deal:
  The 175-year-old glass manufacturer saw its shares jump 17% after announcing a multiyear deal with Meta, worth up to $6 billion in fiber optic cables for Meta’s expanding data centers.

  “The AI trade is touching corners of the market that have been far from glamorous until now... a 175-year-old glass company is getting an AI makeover. That's Corning...”
  — Ann Berry (00:54)

• Fiber Optics Crucial for the AI Era:
  Corning’s legacy in inventing low loss optical fiber (1973) is now powering the digital world. One optical fiber link can carry 150 terabits per second—enough for 30 million HD streams.

• Corning’s Historical Tech Partnerships:

  • Apple: Longstanding supplier since the first iPhone; recent $2.5B investment by Apple to expand US-based glass manufacturing.
  • Edison: Corning developed the original glass for Thomas Edison’s light bulb.

• Meta’s Compute Initiative:
  Meta plans $600B in US tech infrastructure spend over three years, forming the “Meta Compute” initiative to oversee global data centers and supply chains.

  “We’re going to keep watching these announcements because these really are the tangible signs of how Meta will actually execute on its spend...”
  — Ann Berry (03:46)

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2. UnitedHealth Group: In Critical Condition

(04:49 – 10:55)

• A Painful Turnaround:
  UnitedHealth (UNH) has struggled to recover from a steep stock slump (~50% decline last summer), with former CEO Stephen Hemsley brought back following Andrew Witty’s resignation.

  “Turnarounds: They're hard. Public ones, even harder. And if the public company doing the turning is regulated, we are talking about rolling a rock up a hill.”
  — Ann Berry (04:49)

  “That's right. Shares plunged more than 50% and CEO Andrew Witty resigned. And that's when they brought back the OG, Stephen Hemsley.”
  — John Cotton (07:15)

• 2025 Performance Recap & 2026 Outlook:

  • Q4 revenue: $113B (up 12% YoY, in line but on low expectations)
  • Adjusted EPS: $2.11; guidance for 2026: $439B in revenue (nearly $15B below street expectations)
  • Major drags: Continuing fallout from a Change Healthcare cyberattack and restructuring expenses.

• Medicare Advantage & Policy Headwinds:
  UnitedHealth’s profitability hit as more seniors used costlier care—profits pressured further by Medicare Advantage rates staying flat in 2027 (contrary to Wall Street hopes of a 4–6% bump).

  “CMS announced that rates that could be charged for Medicare Advantage plans would essentially stay flat for 2027... Wall Street analysts had expected a rate increase between 4 and 6%... but again, the CMS saying not happening.”
  — Ann Berry (09:03)

• Regulatory Scrutiny Intensifies:

  • President Trump lambasts insurers for high prices:

    “...President Trump has called on insurers to lower their prices, referring to them as big, fat and rich on social media...”
    — John Cotton (08:22)

  • Senate hearings: Top insurance CEOs called to Capitol Hill, pressure to address affordability.
  • CMS (headed by Dr. Oz) cracking down on “questionable” practices.
  • Notable quote from Journal investigation coverage:

    “The Journal found an outsized share of insurer-driven diagnoses went to UnitedHealth. UnitedHealth has called the Journal's reporting ‘inaccurate and biased.’”
    — John Cotton (10:42)

• Market Impact:

  • UnitedHealth down 20% (about $60B in market cap lost today)
  • Humana: –20%, Elevance: –13%, CVS: –15%

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3. Market Movers: American Airlines, UPS, Amazon & GM

(11:51 – 16:45)

a. American Airlines (AAL)

(12:17 – 14:10)

• Missed 2025 full-year estimates; $325M Q4 revenue hit from government shutdown.

• 2026 outlook is optimistic (projecting 7–10% revenue growth for Q1), but stock down 5%+ due to skepticism over shutdown risks and fallout from Winter Storm Fern.

  “American Airlines stock down more than 5% at various points today as a result.”
  — Ann Berry (14:05)

  “Winter Storm Fern apparently amounted to the largest operational disruption the airline has ever seen from weather, which is quite a profound statement of its scale.”
  — Ann Berry (13:58)

b. UPS

• Announced another 30,000 jobs cut in 2026, after shedding 48,000 in 2025; major cost savings from restructuring and automation.

• Shares up 2.5%; efforts to adjust after declining Amazon shipment volumes.

  “UPS said it has so far delivered about $3.5 billion in savings tied to its restructuring...”
  — John Cotton (14:28)

c. Amazon (AMZN) & Grocery Wars

• Sunsetting Amazon Go/Amazon Fresh physical stores and rebranding/converting some to Whole Foods.

• Launching a 230,000 sq. ft. supercenter near Chicago to directly compete with Walmart in physical retail—a big move amid ongoing changes in grocery/retail landscape.

  “Amazon announced its next chess move today — it’s sunsetting Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting some of those locations into Whole Foods Markets.”
  — Ann Berry (14:53) “This makes a lot of sense to me...I never understood the difference between the different brands.”
  — John Cotton (15:45)

d. General Motors (GM)

• Stock up 10% to all-time highs after beating earnings estimates, raising dividend by 20%, and announcing a $6B buyback.
• EV segment remains loss-making, but full-size trucks drive profits consecutively for six years.
• GM stock up ~50% YoY.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Corning’s Transformation:

  “Data center players would want a lot of it to help in supplying connectivity demand that drove up Corning share price over 80% in 2025.”
  — Ann Berry (01:51)

• On the Market’s Skepticism:

  “The market isn’t quite buying the optimism.”
  — Ann Berry re: American Airlines (12:52)

• On the Scale of Winter Storm Fern:

  “Winter Storm Fern apparently amounted to the largest operational disruption the airline has ever seen from weather, which is quite a profound statement of its scale.”
  — Ann Berry (13:58)

• On Insurance Policies and Scrutiny:

  “There is a growing hostility against the health care insurance sector coming from the federal government.”
  — John Cotton (08:22)

• On Amazon’s Grocery Strategy:

  “This makes a lot of sense to me to get the branding all in one channel.”
  — John Cotton (15:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Corning and Meta Deal/Ai Impact: 00:32 – 04:05
• UnitedHealth Group Earnings and Medicare Policy: 04:49 – 10:55
• Market Close & Headlines: 11:51 – 16:45
  • American Airlines: 12:17 – 14:10
  • UPS: 14:10 – 14:53
  • Amazon: 14:53 – 15:42
  • General Motors: 15:42 – 16:45

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Episode Tone & Language

Ann Berry’s tone mixes urgency with clear, slightly playful analogies (“rolling a rock up a hill”, “putting on another pot of coffee”), making dense financial topics highly accessible. Both Ann and John interject with quips, firsthand anecdotes (Ann's airport broadcast), and an open approach to market uncertainty.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode provides a sharp rundown of how legacy companies like Corning find renewed relevance in serving the “unglamorous” but essential needs of AI and data center infrastructure, while mega-cap healthcare names like UnitedHealth contend with existential public and policy pressures. Broader market coverage links industry upheaval in airlines, logistics, retail, and autos back to investor sentiment and changing business models. If you want to understand how AI, weather, regulation, and consumer habits are shaking up the stock market giants, this Brew Markets episode is a concise, insightful listen.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

A turnaround, soft results and a surprise Medicare proposal We unpack the latest in the United Healthcare saga American Airlines live from yes, my flight delay. We review its earnings and the impact of Winter Storm burn. Plus we break down the latest from ups, General Motors and Amazon and Corning. From Thomas Edison to Mark Zuckerberg, today's strategic move from the 175-year-old glass maker to and why data centers are lining up for its products Tuesday, January 27 this blue markets daily as I'm Ann Barry. More market details to come. But first, the AI trade is touching corners of the market that have been far from glamorous until now. We've seen that with utilities and energy as investors wait for new waves of power demand to fuel data center networks. And now a 13075 year old glass company is getting an AI makeover. That's Corning ticker GLW market cap $95 billion revenue closing in on $15 billion and the stock up over 17% today. That's on news that the company has struck a multi year deal with Meta for the tech giant to buy up to $6 billion of fiber optic cable from the glass maker. Well, here's why this matters. Bit of a history lesson on this one. In 1973, Corning invented something called low loss optical fiber that carries voice data and video information in the form of light signals at very high speeds. Corning describes a single optical fiber link as able to carry more than 150 terabits of data per second, roughly enough to support 30 million simultaneous HD video streams. So you can see why data center players would want a lot of it to help in supplying connectivity demand that drove up Corning share price over 80% in 2025. And now Meta's new deal enables Corning to expand even further with manufacturing operations growing in North Carolina. While this isn't Corning's first foray into the big tech spotlight, it's one of the main suppliers to Apple, a relationship that goes back to Corning's work with Steve Jobs in 2007 to develop the iPhone's display screen. That partnership expanded last year with Apple committing two and a half billion dollars to enable Corning to manufacture 100% of iPhone and Apple Watch cover glass in an enhanced product plant in Kentucky. And going back even further in history, Corning famously developed the glass for Thomas Edison's light bulb. As a reminder on Meta, the social media giant has committed to spend about $600 billion in U.S. tech infrastructure and jobs over the next three years. Earlier this month, Meta reorganized its team to form the Meta Compute initiative, designed to oversee its global fleet of data centers and supplier partnerships. Well, Meta stock about flat today again versus Corning significantly up. We're going to keep watching these announcements because these really are the tangible signs of how Meta will actually execute on its spend, moving past the headlines to a stage now that the market is monitoring very, very closely. Coming up, breaking down the latest from American Airlines. Live from an American airlines flight delay. UnitedHealthcare can't catch a break and General Motors hits an all time high. We break it all, all down. But first a word from our sponsor, iherb. John, aren't you tired of the mysteries and the middlemen?

[C]

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[B]

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[B]

They're hard. Public ones, even harder. And if the public company doing the turning is regulated, we are talking about rolling a rock up a hill. Which is why we're watching one company closely to sell a big see if they can actually pull it off. That's UnitedHealth Group, the massive parent company of UnitedHealthcare Insurance and Optum Health Services. The company has been undergoing a very public turnaround with the stock dropping 50% last summer, leading to the return of a former CEO and finally hope of a reset. But today's earnings results along with a major Medicare Advantage announcement Send United Health shares tumbling and teed up significant losses today across the entire health care sector. We're going to get to those details in just a moment. But John, let's start with earnings which were out today and really got us of a mixed reaction.

[C]

UnitedHealth Group incorporated ticker UNH on the New York Stock Exchange market cap of $255 billion today, which after the stock fell 20%, represents about $60 billion in lost revenue. But the company remains by far the largest US insurer. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.11. Revenue of 113 billion was up 12% year over year. Both of those were in line with Wall street expectations, which already came in sort of low for the quarter. The company included costs related to a major cyber attack on UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare unit, as well as restructuring and looking forward, this is one of the reasons the stock dropped. The company's revenue guidance for 2026 was really soft with expected revenue of $439 billion, which is nearly 15 billion below wall street estimates.

[B]

Well, let's just take a quick look at UnitedHealth's Absolutely Horrible 2025. In April, we saw that the company slashed its financial guidance, citing higher than expected utilization rates in its Medicare Advantage health insurance business. That's why, John, I love to talk about these companies. It feels as though they're so loaded with jargon that cutting through it to get a handle on what's going on is difficult. But what I just said basically means that were seeking care and associated with that care typically are higher costs. So putting pressure on profits. And there was frankly little faith that UnitedHealth leadership had a plan to address this growing issue. UnitedHealth did something that so many companies seem to be doing at the moment, which is bringing back the OGs.

[C]

That's right. Shares plunged more than 50% and CEO Andrew Witty resigned. And that's when they brought back the og, Stephen Hemsley. He had previously run the company for over a decade of steady earnings increases. He had stepped aside in 2017, becoming the chairman. But as you said, he's now back as CEO.

[B]

Well, there was some hope then. That was April. There was some hope after he returned. And this is in August when it was disclosed that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had acquired 5 million shares in UnitedHealth Group. That disclosure sent the stock up 11%. People saying if the Oracle of Omaha can get behind this, then maybe we should, too. And we saw a lot of votes of confidence from very prestigious hedge funds as well. We saw hedge fund billionaire David Tepper's Appaloosa Management buy 2.3 million shares in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital piled in the quant. Hedge funds Renaissance Technologies and Two Sigma also piled in. So between that and Berkshire Hathaway, there was this moment, this again was in August, that looked as though perhaps the stock was going to get some positive momentum behind it. But it hasn't been plain sailing. Nevertheless, John Absolutely.

[C]

And it's not just what's going on at UnitedHealthcare. There is a growing hostility against the health care insurance sector coming from the federal government. President Trump has called on insurers to lower their prices, referring to them as big, fat and rich on social media. And just last week, the CEOs of five large health insurance companies, including UnitedHealth, testified on Capitol Hill over concerns about health care affordability. And the company is trying to play ball. The CEO, Hemsley, as we mentioned, he pledged that the company would return any profits made in the Affordable Care act market marketplace to consumers in the coming year, saying UnitedHealth would, quote, voluntarily eliminate and rebate our profits this year for those coverages.

[B]

Nevertheless, then just yesterday, a major policy surprise, and Wall street really did not see this one coming. So we've got something in the United States called the cms, that's the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. And the CMS announced that rates that could be charged for Medicare Advantage plans would essentially stay flat for 2027. Now, the government payment rate determines in turn how much insurers can charge patients monthly premiums and plan benefits. Basically think of that as their revenue source, ultimately impacting their bottom line. And by staying flat, this really put a cap on what the revenue outlook could look like. And if your cost base obviously is increasing, this is not great news for the public company that are the largest insurers. Wall street analysts had expected that a rate increase between 4 and 6% would come about, which would have meant about $25 billion in extra revenue for the sector. But again, the CMS saying not happening, keeping you flat for that year.

[C]

And UnitedHealthcare is hit particularly hard because they're the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, with more than 8 million customers. But as I said, the effects were felt across the board today. Humana shares down 20%, Elevance Health down 13% today, and CVS Health was down 15%. And anyone interested can check out the Wall Street Journal's extensive reporting on what it calls, quote, the secret practices insurers use to pocket billions from Medicare. The Journal found an outsized share of insurer driven diagnoses went to UnitedHealth. UnitedHealth has called the Journal's reporting quote inaccurate and biased. But the cms, as you mentioned, which as a reminder is headed by Dr. Oz, is looking to crack down on practices it deems questionable. So there are still more changes probably in the pipeline.

[B]

Also a big one here, of course, related to the White House, very focused on affordability at the moment and health insurance being a key part of that for a lot of American consumers. Let's take a quick break and when we come back, we take a spin through headlines that move the markets today, including Amazon's grocery refresh and corporate resizing at UPS Advisors. Let's take a moment to really think about how you're setting clients up for success in the new year. Having a partner with scale and expertise matters. Vanguard brings both.

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[C]

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[B]

4Pm on the east Coast. There it is, the closing bell. The market's wrapping up for the day. We don't have a ticker tape, so we'll throw it over to our human ticker, our producer, John.

[C]

That's right. The S&P 500 finished today at a record high of 69. 78, which represented an increase of 4. 10 of a percent. The NASDAQ finished up 9. 10 of a percent and the Dow was down 8. 10 of a percent for today. Now, Anne, I'm going to kick it over to you for some headlines.

[B]

Let's start with American Airlines. Earnings were out today. I was eagerly awaiting this one because it's been so much going on with the airline industry. Lots of chat about the rise and rise of the premium traveler. So wanted to see what additional color American Airlines might be able to add. Well, the headline was it missed estimates for full year 2025 in its earnings release and actually put some numbers around the impact of the government shutdown, which did hit the company's fourth quarter revenue by about $325 million. The interesting thing here is that American did give a rosy outlook for 2026, specifically looking to see 7 to 10% more revenue in this first three months of this year. But the interesting thing here is the stock is down today, so the market isn't quite buying the optimism. And there are a couple of things driving that. First of all, fears that another government shutdown could be looming possibly as early as this weekend. And then of course, Winter Storm Fern caused mass cancellations and delays this weekend. It was impossible to miss the news on that one and the consequences are still being played out. So, John, as you know, I meant to be back in the studio today. Instead I'm here filming from Florida, waiting for a rebooked flight. There's been a lot of those after. Yes, American Airlines delays continue. You go around the airport today, by the way, John, and you can see people have been sitting there for two days being rebooked and rebooked and rebooked. Still waiting. Some of the airlines saying it could be Thursday before they've cleared this backlog. Now, American Airlines specifically was hit really badly by this storm. Five of its nine hubs faced the brunt of it in the path of the storm. And cancellations from Winter Storm Fern apparently amounted to the largest operational disruption the airline has ever seen from weather, which is quite a profound statement of its scale. American Airlines stock down more than 5% at various points today as a result.

[C]

That is a profound measurement. And I am not a hater of the Weather Channel, but I'm not into naming snowstorms. I think that's a little silly. Meanwhile, shares in UPS were up 2 1/2% after the company announced cuts to an additional 30,000 operational positions this year. This after the shipper eliminated 48,000 positions in 2025, 14,000 of those in management. UPS said it has so far delivered about 3 1/2 billion dollars in savings tied to its restructuring, which beyond job cuts has included the closure of more than 90 buildings and a push towards automation. UPS has been working to right size its business after reducing volumes from Amazon.com, which was once its largest customer.

[B]

Speaking of Amazon, quick update from the front lines of the grocery wars that we are obsessed with over here in terms of Amazon going up against Walmart. Amazon announced its next next chess move today. It's sun setting, it's Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores converting some of those locations into Whole Foods Markets. And you may remember that even Whole Foods is going through a bit of a change in positioning, starting to stock some snack foods that perhaps were brands you wouldn't have associated with the organic OG back in the day. Well, at the same time, Amazon is developing its largest ever physical retail venture, a 230,000 square foot supercenter that's outside of Chicago and looks as though it's specifically being designed to compete with the big box master and that's Walmart, you know.

[C]

And this, this move makes a lot of sense to me that Amazon is doing because when I lived in Los Angeles I lived near an Amazon Go. I lived near an Amazon Fresh and a Whole Foods and I never understood the difference between the different brands. And if I had something to return to Amazon sometimes it would say to which do you want to return? And I didn't know the difference. So this makes a lot of sense to me to get the branding all in one channel. Shares in Amazon finished up 2% today, up over 5% this year. And finally, shares in General Motors ticker GM rose 10% this morning, hitting all time highs after the company reported earnings that topped estimates saw the company up its dividend by 20% and institute a new $6 billion stock buyback plan. The company reported losses tied to electric vehicles and sales overall were down. But the truck business, which is more profitable on a per vehicle basis, remains strong with full size pickup sales up for the sixth straight year. Coming into the week, GM stock was up nearly 50% over the past 12 months.

[B]

Well, we are putting on another pot of coffee. We are getting ready. We are in the thick of earnings now. This is the big week for the major tech earning. We're seeing the emergence of a lot of the major oil players, a lot of conversation coming out there around Venezuela. We've got a lot of defense coming up as well in the coming days. So we are ready to sprint. We're tying on our running shoes. But for the moment, that's it for today's Brew Markets Daily.

[C]

And Brew Markets Daily is hosted by Anne Barry and produced by John Cotton, Target Belleef and Emily Millar. Our technical director is Uchena Waugh. Jim Orso is our audio engineer. The President of Morning Brew Inc. Is Devin Emery. If you have any feedback or a company you'd like us to COVID leave a comment or send an email to [e-mail].

[B]

Wake up tomorrow with the Morning Brew newsletter and tune in to Neil and Toby on Morning Brew Daily. We'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place.