April 30 (Reuters) - Specialty glass maker Corning

forecast second-quarter core sales above Wall Street

expectations on Tuesday, banking on price increases and healthy

demand for its fiber optic cables amid recovery in spending from

telecom clients.

Shares of the New York-based company rose more than 3% in

premarket trading.

After a period of sluggish spending by wireless carriers on

its fiber optic cables, Corning is seeing a recovery as telecom

clients upgrade their infrastructure along with more uses for

the company's products in data centers, which power artificial

intelligence applications.

The company had said in January it expects carrier customers

to deplete their excess inventory and resume normal purchasing

patterns.

"We're seeing encouraging signs of improving market

conditions," said Corning CEO Wendell Weeks.

Tech firms have been ramping up spending on products such as

fiber optic cables, connectors, optical components and

infrastructure which can handle large AI workloads, benefiting

companies like Corning.

"We are executing our plans to add more than $3 billion in

annualized sales within the next three years," Weeks said.

Corning expects second-quarter core sales of about $3.4

billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.33

billion, according to LSEG data.

The company, which makes Gorilla Glass used in smartphones

by companies such as Samsung and Apple ( AAPL ),

reported first-quarter total core sales of $3.26 billion,

beating estimates of $3.12 billion.

Revenue for the company's optical communications segment,

its largest by sales, was at $930 million, versus estimates of

$866.7 million.

On an adjusted basis, it earned 38 cents per share, compared

with estimates of 35 cents per share.