Earnings call transcript: Universal Display’s Q3 2025 results disappoint investors

Universal Display Corporation reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings, revealing a significant miss on both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue forecasts. The company posted an EPS of $0.92, falling short of the expected $1.19, while revenue reached $139.6 million, below the anticipated $163.88 million. This underperformance led to a 7.78% decline in the stock price during the trading session, closing at $145.88 in the aftermarket. According to InvestingPro data, the stock is currently trading at $135.34, reflecting continued pressure following the earnings announcement. The company maintains an overall "GOOD" financial health rating despite recent volatility.

Key Takeaways

• Universal Display missed both EPS and revenue forecasts significantly.
• The company’s stock price fell by 7.78% following the earnings announcement.
• Lowered full-year revenue guidance indicates potential challenges ahead.
• Strategic acquisitions and new technology developments were highlighted as positives.
• Market sentiment remains cautious due to the earnings miss.

Company Performance

Universal Display’s performance in Q3 2025 marked a notable departure from its previous positive trend, with both revenue and EPS falling short of expectations. The company’s revenue of $140 million was down from $162 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting challenges in maintaining growth amid market fluctuations. Despite these setbacks, the company continues to lead in the OLED industry, driven by strategic partnerships and innovations.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $140 million, down from $162 million in Q3 2024.
• Earnings per share: $0.92, missing the forecast of $1.19.
• Gross margin: 75%, a decline from 78% in the previous year.
• Cash and equivalents: Approximately $1 billion.
• Quarterly dividend: $0.45 per share.

Earnings vs. Forecast

Universal Display reported an EPS of $0.92, significantly below the forecasted $1.19, representing a surprise of -22.69%. Revenue was also lower than expected at $139.6 million, compared to the forecast of $163.88 million, marking a -14.82% surprise. This performance contrasts with previous quarters where the company often met or exceeded expectations.

Market Reaction

The company’s stock experienced a sharp decline, dropping 7.78% during the trading session, with an aftermarket price of $145.88. This movement reflects investor concerns over the earnings miss and revised guidance, contrasting with the broader market’s stability.

Outlook & Guidance

Universal Display lowered its full-year revenue guidance to the lower end of the $650-$700 million range, indicating potential challenges in the coming quarters. Despite this, the company remains optimistic about its strategic initiatives, including new OLED manufacturing capacities expected in 2026 and ongoing product innovations.

Executive Commentary

CEO Steve Abramson emphasized the company’s commitment to leadership in the OLED ecosystem, stating, "Our universal full-OLED technology and materials are raising the bar for energy performance in next-generation devices." CFO Brian Millard confirmed strong Q4 revenue expectations, despite the current quarter’s challenges.

Risks and Challenges

• The significant earnings miss raises concerns about future financial performance.
• Lower gross margins suggest increased cost pressures.
• Revised guidance points to potential market and operational challenges.
• The competitive landscape in the OLED market remains intense.
• Economic uncertainties could further impact demand and profitability.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts raised questions about ongoing contract negotiations with LG Display and the pricing potential of new phosphorescent blue technology. The management confirmed strong expectations for Q4 revenue and highlighted growth opportunities in the IT and foldable smartphone markets.

Full transcript - Universal Display (OLED) Q3 2025:

Operator: Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Universal Display Corporation’s third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. My name is Sherry, and I will be your operator for today’s call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes. I would now like to turn the conference over to Darice Liu, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please proceed.

Darice Liu, Senior Director of Investor Relations, Universal Display Corporation: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Universal Display’s third-quarter earnings conference call. Joining me on the call today are Steve Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Before Steve begins, let me remind you today’s call is a property of Universal Display. Any redistribution, retransmission, or rebroadcast of any portion of this call in any form without the express written consent of Universal Display is strictly prohibited. Further, this call is being webcast live and will be made available for a period of time on Universal Display’s website. This call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live webcast of this call, November 6th, 2025. During this call, we may make forward-looking statements based on current expectations.

These statements are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties, and our actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in the company’s periodic reports filed with the SEC and should be referenced by anyone considering making any investments in the company’s securities. Universal Display disclaims any obligation to update any of these statements. Now, I’d like to turn the call over to Steve Abramson.

Steve Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Universal Display Corporation: Thanks, Darice, and welcome to everyone on today’s call. Third-quarter revenue was $140 million, with operating profit of $43 million. Net income was $44 million, or $0.92 per diluted share. These results reflect timing dynamics, as customer pull-ins in the first half of the year were more significant than previously thought. Based on current forecasts, we now expect full-year revenues to be around the lower end of our guidance range of $650-$700 million. Our company was built on innovation and leadership, and that remains unwavering. From foundational research to high-volume commercialization, we continue to push the boundaries of all the technologies and materials. Today, our innovation engine is stronger than ever. Over the past decade, we built a powerful artificial intelligence and machine learning platform that is transforming how we discover and develop new materials.

By harnessing AI/ML to accelerate material discovery, we’re identifying breakthrough compositions faster, reducing development cycles, and expanding the frontiers of phosphorescent OLEDs. This capability is opening new horizons for our materials pipeline and enabling us to efficiently broaden our portfolio of next-generation reds, greens, yellows, blues, and hosts to meet evolving customer needs. We’re also strengthening our foundation with strategic moves. Today, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire OLED patent assets from Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany. This acquisition bolsters the building blocks for next-generation OLED performance. By integrating these assets into our R&D framework, we are accelerating our roadmap for high-efficiency devices. This transaction, valued at $50 million and expected to close in January 2026, underscores our commitment to lead the OLED industry into its next era of growth and transformation. Blue continues to be a cornerstone of our innovation journey.

The timing for the debut of full-LED blue in commercial products will be guided by the OLED market. When adopted, we believe our phosphorescent blue will be a game-changer, delivering breakthrough efficiency and performance for our customers, driving progress across the OLED industry, enhancing experiences for consumers, and fueling growth for our company. Looking ahead, we expect rising OLED adoption and new OLED capacity coming online to drive growth in the OLED market. While macro uncertainties may persist, we believe that the OLED industry is entering a dynamic phase of expansion, primarily fueled by increasing demand for OLED in IT applications, where penetration today is only about 5% of the market. According to Omdia Market Research, OLED units from 2024 to 2028 are projected to grow across the consumer landscape. OLED IT units, which encompasses tablets, laptops, and monitors, are expected to increase by 170%.

OLED smartphones are forecasted to grow by 14%. OLED TVs are expected to grow by 11%, and the foldable OLED in emerging automotive markets are both expected to nearly triple by 2028. Next year also marks a pivotal growth stage in medium-sized OLED manufacturing capacity, with the world’s first Gen 8.6 OLED fabs in Korea and China slated to come online. We believe this is the beginning of a multi-year OLED capex growth cycle as leading OEMs expand their adoption across their portfolio of IT products. Samsung’s 15,000 plates per month Gen 8.6 OLED IT line is expected to start mass production in the second quarter of 2026. BOE’s 32,000 plates per month Gen 8.6 fab is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026. Visionox’s 32,000 plates per month Gen 8.6 OLED production fab in Hefei is progressing well, with initial equipment POs currently being placed.

Just three weeks ago, TCL China Star broke ground on its first Gen 8.6 OLED plant in Guangzhou, China. With a CapEx of approximately $4 billion, it will have a design monthly capacity of 22,500 sheets. The digital world is accelerating towards intelligence and interconnectivity, powered by AI, ultra-fast networks, and seamless experiences. This transformation demands displays that are not only brilliant but highly efficient due to higher power consumption needs. That is where Universal Display leads. Our universal full-OLED technology and materials are raising the bar for energy performance in next-generation devices. By delivering superior power savings, we enable longer battery life, cooler operation, and advanced functionality across smartphones and wearables to automotive and IT displays. The horizon is even more exciting. Our breakthrough phosphorescent blue is poised to unlock up to an additional 25% of energy efficiency, paving the way for greater sustainability with performance in displays.

On that note, let me turn the call over to Brian.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Thank you, Steve. Thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. Revenue in the third quarter was $140 million, compared to $162 million in the third quarter of 2024. Revenue for the first nine months of the year was $478 million, compared to $485 million in the first nine months of 2024. For the full year, as Steve mentioned, we expect revenues to come in around the lower end of the guidance range of $650-$700 million. Amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, this guidance reflects our best current assessment. We continue to estimate that our 2025 ratio of materials to royalty and licensing revenues will be in the ballpark of 1.3 to 1. Total material sales were $83 million in the third quarter of 2025, consistent with the prior year. Green emitter sales, which include our yellow-green emitters, were $65 million.

This compares to $63 million in the third quarter of 2024. Red emitter sales were $17 million. This compares to $20 million in the third quarter of 2024. As we’ve discussed in the past, material buying patterns can vary quarter to quarter. Third-quarter royalty and licensing fees were $53 million, compared to $75 million in the prior year. This quarter included an out-of-period adjustment of $9.5 million, which reduced royalty and license fee revenues. Adesis’s third-quarter revenue was $3.7 million, compared to $3.6 million in the third quarter of 2024. Third-quarter cost of sales was $35 million, translating into total gross margins of 75%. This compares to $36 million and total gross margins of 78% in the third quarter of 2024. We continue to believe that total gross margins for the full year will be in the range of 76-77%.

Operating expenses, excluding cost of sales, were $61 million in the third quarter of 2025, compared to $59 million in the third quarter of 2024. We continue to expect our 2025 OPEX to decline by a low single-digit percentage year over year. Operating income was $43 million in the third quarter, translating into an operating margin of 31%. This compares to the prior year period of $67 million and an operating margin of 41%. Operating income in the first nine months of the year was $181 million, compared to $186 million in the first nine months of 2024. We now expect our full-year operating margins to be in the range of 35-40%. The income tax rate was 19% in the third quarter of 2025. We expect the full-year effective tax rate to remain around 19%.

Third quarter 2025 net income was $44 million, or $0.92 per diluted share. This compares to $67 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the comparable period of 2024. For the first nine months of the year, net income was $176 million, or $3.68 per diluted share, consistent with the first nine months of 2024’s $176 million, or $3.69 per diluted share. We ended the quarter with approximately $1 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments. Our board of directors approved a $0.45 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on December 31, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 17, 2025. Our capital allocation program reflects our expected continued positive cash flow generation and commitment to return capital to our shareholders.

While third-quarter results reflect timing shifts, including customer pull-ins earlier in the year and an out-of-period adjustment, we anticipate renewed momentum and growth in the fourth quarter. Driven by our technology leadership, strong business model, and deep customer relationships, we are well-positioned to deliver long-term value in this growing market. As we look forward, we are focused on accelerating innovation, broadening our solutions and services, and supporting OLED adoption across an ever-widening range of applications. With that, I’ll turn the call back to Steve.

Steve Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Universal Display Corporation: Thanks, Brian. Looking ahead, we are committed to shaping the future through leadership, innovation, and growth. Universal Display was founded on the belief that science and imagination can transform industries, and that spirit continues to guide us today. Last month, we announced the inaugural winner of the Sherwin Isaacson Innovation Award, established to honor our late founder’s visionary leadership. The winning submission explores using organic materials to emulate the human brain’s ability to sense, learn, and adapt. Sherwin believed in pushing beyond limits, and this award celebrates that legacy by recognizing bold thinkers who are redefining what’s possible. That same spirit of exploration extends us beyond OLED. Last week, our subsidiary, Universal Vapor Jet Corporation, UVJC, celebrated the grand opening of its new global headquarters and R&D center in Singapore.

UVJC represents an additional chapter for our maskless, solventless dry printing technology, UVJP, which is being developed for new frontiers, including semiconductors, pharmaceutical, batteries, and photovoltaics, while also positioning us for future opportunities in OLED TVs. This evolution reflects our ability to leverage core expertise into emerging markets that will help shape tomorrow’s technologies. Innovation also thrives through collaboration. This year marks 25 years of partnership with PPG, a relationship that has been instrumental in scaling our phosphorescent OLED materials and enabling remarkable industry growth. From our early days as a pioneering startup to our global operations today, this partnership exemplifies how shared vision and complementary strengths can create lasting impact, and we’re excited about what the next 25 years will bring. As we celebrate these milestones, we remain focused on the road ahead, advancing OLED technology, accelerating material discovery, and expanding into new frontiers.

The digital world is evolving rapidly, and we are committed to leading that evolution with innovation that is bold, partnerships that are enduring, and a future that is bright. I would like to thank each of our employees for their drive, desire, dedication, and heart in elevating and shaping Universal Display’s accomplishments and advancements. We are committed to being a leader in the OLED ecosystem, achieving superior long-term growth and delivering cutting-edge technologies and materials for the industry, for our customers, and for our shareholders. Operator, let’s start the Q&A.

Operator: Thank you, Mr. Iverson. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the Star keys. Our first question is from Brian Lee. Please proceed with your question.

Brian Lee, Analyst: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. I had a couple here. I guess, first off, understandably, the pull forward from Q3 into Q2, that’s showing up in kind of the results from a top-line perspective. But then when I look at full-year guide, even at the low point of the guidance range for revenue, as you mentioned, Q4 is going to look like it’s going to be a quarterly record for you in terms of revenue. Just curious, kind of, is there anything that slipped out from Q3 into Q4 timing-wise? If not, where’s sort of the visibility around Q4 for that revenue kind of strength into year-end? Is that just product cycle-driven, or are you seeing any new capacity being added in 2026 starting to mobilize already in terms of material purchases here at year-end? Just trying to understand the Q4 strengths.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Yeah. Thanks, Brian. In terms of the Q4 guide, yes, your math is right that if we hit the low end of the guidance range, that will be a record. I think we posted $172 million of revenues in the second quarter of this year. It would be slightly north of that to hit the $650 million. We continue to get forecasts from our customers on an ongoing basis. Those are indicating that we’re going to have growth in a strong Q4. It is that information that’s really giving us the confidence to put out the guide that we have.

Brian Lee, Analyst: Okay. Fair enough. Then, again, at the low point of guidance, $650 million revenue. You’re basically flat year on year. I know it sounds like Steve was saying at the beginning of the call, you’re entering into a pretty encouraging backdrop of growth across all these new product categories and unit growth assumptions, as well as capacity expansion. How should we be thinking about sort of the growth trajectory off of the past two years where you’ve been kind of flattish into 2026? What are some of the puts and takes? Has some of the, I guess, year-end weakness here in 2025, is that potentially slipping into 2026 here?

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: As Steve mentioned in his prepared remarks, there’s a number of things in terms of new capacity coming online next year that give us a lot of optimism about growth, not just next year, but in the coming years across a variety of our customers. We’ve seen a steady set of announcements over the last few years for new Gen 8.6 capacity, with China Star being the most recent. In terms of the 2024, 2025 growth, there were a few one-time items in 2024 that also made it a little bit of a challenging comp. Looking into next year, we certainly are projecting continued growth.

Brian Lee, Analyst: Okay. Great. Fair enough. Last one from me, and I’ll pass it on. The LG Display contract, I believe that is up for renewal at the end of the year. Any thoughts you can share around how those contract negotiations are faring? Are there any potential implications for the blue commercialization timeline from those contract negotiations? Thank you.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: We are certainly in a dialogue with LG Display about a new contract. We fully expect there will be one. We’ve been working with them for more than 15 years now. They’re a long-term partner of ours. We are in the process of finishing up those details in terms of the new contract.

Operator: Our next question is from Mehdi Hosseini with Saskahana International Group. Please proceed.

Meiwish Mabhub, Analyst, Saskahana International Group: This is Meiwish Mabhub on for Mehdi Hosseini. I just have two quick questions. First, so we just wanted to know how much is Universal Display today as a percentage of the BOM cost for Tandem Display? And then in regards to phosphorescent blue, when it does reach commercialization and gets adopted in volume, could you walk us through the impact it could have on your content per phone or your overall dollar content opportunity?

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Hi, Meiwish. On the first point in terms of our cost of the bill of materials, we are a very small portion of the bill of materials for displays, even single-layer displays and even tandem structures where there’s somewhere between likely one and a half to two times the quantity of material in a tandem structure compared to a single layer. Even if you were to add a one and a half or so factor on top of that single-layer cost, we’re still a very small portion of the overall cost structure of displays, regardless of whether it’s smartphone or TV or what have you. On blue, we certainly believe that phosphorescent blue has a premium price associated with it. We’ve been very consistent in that view. There’s a significant investment we’ve made over many years of R&D resources and effort to bring it closer to commercialization.

We believe that it will be a premium to our red and green pricing, but still priced very reasonably such that it won’t be a hindrance to adoption.

Meiwish Mabhub, Analyst, Saskahana International Group: Got it. Thank you.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Thanks.

Operator: As a reminder, this is Star 1 on your telephone keypad if you would like to ask a question. Our next question is from Martin Yang with Oppenheimer & Company. Please proceed.

Martin Yang, Analyst, Oppenheimer & Company: Hi. Thank you for taking my question. I want to maybe dig into the end markets a little bit more. With regard to your guidance, is there any incremental changes by end markets, for example, smartphones, ITs, and TVs, that gave you a different outlook for the year?

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Hi, Martin. I think as it relates to this year, nothing noteworthy has come up in terms of the specific end markets. Certainly, as we’ve previously discussed and as Steve mentioned on the call today, the IT market is where we see significant growth in the coming years with the new capacity coming online from our customers, as well as OEM product roadmaps and their plans over the next few years to adopt more and more OLED displays across their product portfolio. We also, on the smartphone side, see foldables as a big opportunity for our business. Certainly, the square area being larger is compelling.

This year, I wouldn’t say there’s anything abnormal that’s come up on the foldable side other than you continue to hear quarter after quarter, more and more OEMs announcing increasing foldable models, and even a few going the trifold route and previewing some of those trifold models. As we head into the next few years, that’s where we really see a lot of the opportunity for our business is these increasing surface areas and new form factors in smartphones, as well as generally the IT market having greater adoption.

Martin Yang, Analyst, Oppenheimer & Company: Thanks, Brian. The question on new capacity that are coming online in the next two years, what would be the helpful metrics to help us understand the capacity or the startup cost, startup phase, how the material demand can impact your sales before they enter full commercial production?

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: I think that there’s always a seeding process that goes into turning on a new fab and getting it ready for mass production. We do see that routinely when new capacity comes online. In terms of data points to look for or metrics, I mean, it’ll certainly come through in our results when those orders come through. I think also our customers are getting obviously more efficient on an ongoing basis at how much material they need to use in each of those seeding processes. We would certainly expect to see some level of seeding once those fabs are in preparation for mass production.

Martin Yang, Analyst, Oppenheimer & Company: Got it. That’s for me. Thank you, Brian.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Thanks, Martin.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the program back over to Brian Millard for any additional or closing remarks.

Brian Millard, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Universal Display Corporation: Thank you all for your time today. We appreciate your interest and support. We’re excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to speaking to you next quarter.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s call. You may now disconnect.

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