I've been telling you for a while about Universal Display (Nasdaq: PANL ) , and how the company's OLED technology is setting up for a rocket blast into the stratosphere. But it's always been with a "patience, young grasshopper" caveat.
Well, that launch is no longer a dim hope for the future. It's looking more like a certainty in a quarter or two.
OLED displays and lighting systems are finally ready to step into the marketplace in a big way. Manufacturing costs are dropping fast, and they'll plummet even faster when Universal partners like AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO ) , Samsung SDI (Pink Sheets: SSDIF), LG Display (NYSE: LPL ) , and Seiko Epson build out their OLED manufacturing plants.
Here, have some pudding -- 80-proof. The company just reported a massive increase in commercial revenue, to $1.4 million from $390,000 a year ago. That's a threefold rise, with sugar on top.
Of course, Mr. Market couldn't see past the dropping total revenue -- development contracts keep falling off the table -- so the stock is a little cheaper today. Universal Display is becoming a business for profit, rather than a development house for fancy science-fictiony technologies. All told, Universal lost $0.15 per share (down from last year's $0.16) on $2.1 million in revenue (down from $2.3 million).
Yes, these are small numbers, and Universal Display is a small company today. But it stands ready to kick off a revolution across multiple multibillion-dollar markets with super-thin, ultra-efficient, and even flexible digital displays. It's also devising lighting panels (under development for the U.S. Department of Defense) that can match the light output of a regular 100-watt bulb on a scant 17 watts of power -- all without warming up your carefully air-conditioned living room, and with more than 15 times the expected life of incandescent bulbs. GE (NYSE: GE ) and Philips (NYSE: PHG ) better watch out. Their market-leading light-bulb businesses are going out of style.
That's what a real Rule Breaker like Universal Display can do, and the fuse has been lit with a blowtorch. This company won't stay tiny and anonymous much longer. Stay on the sidelines at your own peril.
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