SS&C Technologies (SSNC 0.44%), Alarm.com (ALRM +0.79%), and Universal Display Corporation (OLED 3.39%) are enjoying significant growth, and rising demand could propel shares in each of them to new highs. Should you pick them up in your portfolio?
Sold on software
SS&C Technologies sells software that investment managers and financial services companies use to keep track of their accounting, manage portfolios, model financials, and report data. With markets flirting with new highs, business is going -- as they say -- like gangbusters.
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Fellow Fool Steve Symington pointed out in May that first-quarter adjusted sales grew 19% year over year, to $410 million, and that adjusted net income was up 23%, to $93 million. The performance marked the 20th straight quarter of growth for SS&C Technologies, and with plans to pay down debt and reduce its interest expense, profit could continue to outpace revenue growth. In 2017, management is targeting sales and profit of at least $1.66 billion and $399 million, respectively,
Before you read any further, I want to highlight this point. Since 2006, SS&C Technologies' revenue has increased by a compounded 22% annually, and since 2010, adjusted earnings per share have grown by 24% compounded annually. Few companies can claim that kind of consistent top- and bottom-line growth!
Yet what's really impressive is that there are enough opportunities to enter new markets, cross-sell more products, and serve more geographies to indicate the company isn't done with double-digit growth. For instance, there's the possibility of growth by selling solutions for real assets and hard assets. There also are over 100 products and services now that can be cross-sold to existing customers, and the company can expand in Asia, where it currently only gets about 6% of its revenue.
An intelligent solution for "smart homes"
Homes are getting increasingly intelligent, and the explosion of the Internet of Things provides a lot of opportunity for Alarm.com to market its real-time monitoring solutions. The company is already helping more than 5 million subscribers view what's happening inside and outside their homes, control their temperature and lighting, manage door locks, and manage other automated home systems using a smartphone, tablet, or PC.
The company's technology is built from the ground up for next-generation devices, and that means it's easy to use and offers significant interconnectivity. If you're like me, and you think technology will play an increasingly larger role in our homes in the future, then this company demands consideration for inclusion in portfolios.
It doesn't hurt that sales are growing quickly, and it's already turning a profit. Revenue has grown by a compounded annual rate of 28% since 2012, and sales of $74.2 million in Q1 were up from $59 million one year ago. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share improved to $0.23 in Q1, up from $0.13 last year.
It also doesn't hurt that we're only in the early innings of smart homes. There are over 22 million homes that subscribe to home security services in North America, and that's expected to grow to 26 million by 2021. Out of the 1.4 billion households globally, only 5.3% are smart homes. Additionally, there's over 4 million small commercial buildings that could benefit from Alarm.com's products and services in the future, too.
A clear case to buy
In case you hadn't noticed, there's a lot more high-definition content out there. Increasingly, that content is being viewed on smart phones and tablets by consumers who want better displays and longer-lasting battery power.
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That's great news for Universal Display Corporation because it means more demand for energy-efficient, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that rely on its technology and patents.
Thanks to swelling OLED demand, Universal Display's revenue jumped 87%, to $55.6 million, and its net income improved $8.5 million, to $10.4 million in Q1. The revenue increase was primarily due to higher demand for its phosphorescent emitters, which led to materials revenue accelerating 92%, to $47 million in the quarter.
Following the company's first-quarter performance, management expects full-year sales of at least $260 million, up from prior expectations of at least $247 million. That translates into 30% plus year-over-year revenue growth.
The upside might not be limited to this year, either. In April, the company's CFO told investors that "mounting investments in new manufacturing capacity and the development of an array of new display and lighting products" has management expecting its "growth trajectory to be positive for the foreseeable future."
Undeniably, "foreseeable" is a long time, but I don't think it's crazy to think Universal Display's best days are ahead of it -- especially if more manufacturers of smartphones (ahem, Apple) embrace OLED technology in their next-generation devices.
Currently, a big chunk of Universal Display's revenue comes from Samsung's display business. Samsung's OLED displays are used in Samsung's latest smartphones, and while anything could happen, rumors are that Samsung's going to be supplying Apple with OLED displays for its next iPhone.
According to the Korea Herald, Apple has contracted with Samsung to provide it with 160 million OLED displays for the iPhone 8. Sharp, which is majority owned by Foxconn Technology, a major Apple supplier, is a Universal Display customer, too.
Universal Display's opportunity isn't limited to mobile devices, either. OLED displays are used in televisions, wearables (like the Apple Watch), and automobiles. It also is being incorporated into next-generation VR and AR devices,.
Overall, if you believe that consumers and manufacturers will remain laser focused on incorporating better displays and energy efficiency into their devices, then the reason to invest in Universal Display's stock is clear.
