Zacks Research Has Pessimistic Outlook of OLED Q4 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research cut its Q4 2026 EPS estimate for Universal Display to $1.36 (from $1.38) and currently carries a "Strong Sell" rating while forecasting modest EPS for upcoming quarters.
• Despite Zacks' pessimism, Universal Display recently beat EPS (reported $1.39 vs. $1.28 consensus) while revenue slightly missed; shares trade near $99 with a $4.67B market cap, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 ($2.00 annual, ~2% yield).

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q4 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Universal Display in a report released on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the semiconductor company will earn $1.36 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.38. Zacks Research currently has a "Strong Sell" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Universal Display's current full-year earnings is $4.83 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Universal Display's Q1 2027 earnings at $1.30 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.34 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.38 EPS and Q1 2028 earnings at $1.29 EPS.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $172.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.35 million. Universal Display had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 37.21%.The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS.

OLED has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Universal Display from $130.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Universal Display in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 price target on Universal Display in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Universal Display from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Universal Display from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.25.

Universal Display Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Universal Display stock opened at $99.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 1.65. The business's 50-day moving average price is $100.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.02. Universal Display has a 12 month low of $86.43 and a 12 month high of $163.21.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Universal Display's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Universal Display's dividend payout ratio is 39.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Display

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLED. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Universal Display in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,756,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Universal Display by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,069,107 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $728,076,000 after buying an additional 460,792 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Universal Display by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 880,678 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $102,846,000 after buying an additional 408,315 shares during the last quarter. Analog Century Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Universal Display in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,914,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Universal Display by 100.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 646,787 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $75,532,000 after buying an additional 324,677 shares during the last quarter. 78.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation NASDAQ: OLED is a technology company specializing in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) solutions. The company develops and commercializes materials, technologies and software used in the creation of OLED displays and lighting. Its offerings include proprietary phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) materials, display driver integrated circuits and process technologies that enable higher efficiency, longer lifetimes and improved color performance for a range of display and lighting applications.

Universal Display's core business is licensing its extensive OLED patent portfolio to display manufacturers and providing them with the key organic materials needed for device fabrication.

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