Why Universal Display Shares Plunged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of LED supplier Universal Display (NAS: PANL) sank 11% today after its quarterly results and outlook missed Wall Street expectations.

So what: While Universal's first-quarter loss narrowed significantly, a clear miss on the top line -- $12.6 million versus the consensus of $16.4 million -- is reigniting concerns over a slowdown in demand. Of course, management noted that the results were affected by the timing of licensing fees from Samsung Electronics, suggesting that today's pullback is a bit of an overreaction.

Now what: Management reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of $90 million-$110 million, versus Wall Street's view of $104.7 million. "As the industry grows and now that our agreement with Samsung is in place, we have a little more visibility into our potential future financial performance" CFO Sid Rosenblatt said in a conference call with analysts. "Of course the OLED industry is still at a stage where many variables could have a material effect on growth in our future financial performance." With the stock now off more than 40% from its 52-week highs, much of that uncertainty might already be baked into the price.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Universal Display. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Universal Display. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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