Why Shares of Universal Display Lit Up

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 Universal Display popped by as much as 17% during intraday trading Friday after the OLED specialist reported record second-quarter revenue and earnings, which both beat analysts' estimates.

So what: For the quarter, Universal Display turned in revenue that rose 65% year over year to $49.4 million, and a 43% increase in net earnings per diluted share to $0.33. Analysts, on average, were only expecting earnings of $0.27 per share on sales of $38 million.

Those increases were largely driven by an impressive 111% rise in material sales to $27.1 million. In addition, royalty and license fees also rose 37% to $21.2 million, thanks to a $5 million increase in the now-$20 million licensing agreement paid by Samsung to Universal Display in the second and fourth quarters each year.

Universal Display management also told investors they now expect 2013 revenue to reach the high end of their previous $110 million- $125 million range going forward.

Now what: CFO Sidney Rosenblatt stated, "Given the rate at which the market is adopting our energy efficient, high-performance UniversalPHOLED materials and technology, we believe the market has achieved a level of sustainable commercial technology adoption that can drive strong top line growth."

This is the sixth quarter in a row that shares of Universal Display have either popped or plunged at least 10% in conjunction with their receipt of Samsung's twice-per-year licensing payments.

As I've written before, however, this volatility, for better or worse, certainly won't last forever. As economies of scale kick in and the OLED market continues to mature, Universal Display's results will eventually prove much more predictable.

When that happens, though, and if the company can continue growing at this rate, it's a safe bet Universal Display's stock will trade significantly higher than it does now.

Universal Display so far owes much of its growth to smartphone displays. The mobile revolution is still in its infancy, but with so many different companies it can be daunting to know how to profit in the space. Fortunately, The Motley Fool has released a free report on mobile called "The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution" that tells you how. The report describes why this seismic shift will dwarf any other technology revolution seen before it and also names the company at the forefront of the trend. You can access this report today by clicking here -- it's free.

The article Why Shares of Universal Display Lit Up originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Steve Symington owns shares of Universal Display. The Motley Fool recommends Universal Display. The Motley Fool owns 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 Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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