Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Universal Display’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.36 EPS, 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.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on OLED. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Display from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Universal Display from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Universal Display from $130.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Universal Display in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Universal Display in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.25.

Universal Display Stock Down 1.4%

OLED stock opened at $97.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.65. Universal Display has a 52-week low of $86.43 and a 52-week high of $163.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.88.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Universal Display had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 37.21%.The firm had revenue of $172.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Universal Display will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. Universal Display’s payout ratio is 39.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Display

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Universal Display in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,756,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Universal Display by 10.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,069,107 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $728,076,000 after purchasing an additional 460,792 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Universal Display by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 880,678 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $102,846,000 after purchasing an additional 408,315 shares in the last quarter. Analog Century Management LP acquired a new stake in Universal Display during the 4th quarter valued at $46,914,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Universal Display by 100.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 646,787 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $75,532,000 after purchasing an additional 324,677 shares in the last quarter. 78.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Universal Display News

Here are the key news stories impacting Universal Display this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Universal Display is expected to report quarterly results this week, keeping focus on near-term guidance and product demand trends. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks published an earnings preview saying OLED lacks the setup for an earnings beat and expects Q1 results to decline, which raises the bar for management commentary and guidance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded OLED from “Hold” to “Strong Sell,” a headline move that typically triggers selling from investors who follow that shop or use third‑party model screens. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks also trimmed EPS forecasts across multiple upcoming quarters (slight cuts to Q4 2026, Q1–Q2 2027 and Q1 2028), lowering short-term earnings visibility and contributing to downward revisions in consensus expectations. Read More.

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.