Universal Display Corp shares climb after zipping past 2Q Wall Street estimates on boosted sales

Shares of Universal Display Corp (NASDAQ:OLED) traded higher Friday, a day after the developer of organic light-emitting diode technologies for screens and smartphones posted second-quarter revenue and profit that beat Wall Street’s estimates.

Overcoming weak demand for OLED (organic light emitting diode) panels in the quarter, the company reported net income of US$10.8mln or US$0.23 per share, and on an adjusted basis, it reported per-share earnings of US$0.31. Revenue, meanwhile, came in at US$56.1mln in the quarter.

Wall Street had expected earnings per share of US$0.13 per share on revenue of US$49mln.

READ: Universal Display a bright spot after first quarter revenues sparkle

The results were welcomed by investors who pushed up Universal Display’s shares by nearly 10% to US$111.25 in Friday’s pre-market session

“In the second quarter, we saw material sales improving off what we believed to be a first quarter ‘bottom’ for material shipments,” said Sidney Rosenblatt, Universal Display’s chief financial officer in a statement. “We continue to expect an additional pick-up in orders and revenues in the second half of the year.”

The company did note, however, that demand for OLED panels remained soft in the second quarter due to weakness in the smartphone market.

But Universal Display still expects this year’s revenues to fall in the range of US$280mln to US$310mln and has also announced a US$0.06 per share dividend for the third quarter.

In a statement, CEO Rosenblatt said he was particularly excited about the introduction of the first foldable OLED product next year. “We believe that 2019 is poised to be a pivotal year for the OLED industry,” he said. 

Headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey, Universal, which was founded in 1994, makes organic light-emitting diode technology and has offices in China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Contact Ellen Kelleher at [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors