Universal Display posts Q3 profit, shares rise

(Reuters) - LED supplier Universal Display Corp posted a third-quarter profit, gainsaying loss expectations, as revenue more than tripled, and forecast full-year revenue above expectation, sending its shares up 8 percent in extended trade.

In August, the company said it will license certain technologies and sell materials to a unit of Samsung Electronics, which will help the Korean company to develop next generation flat-panel displays.

"Our new arrangement with Samsung SMD provides the first real visibility into our potential future financial performance," the company said in a statement.

Universal has more than 1,000 patents for technologies and materials, which are vital for manufacturing organic light emitting device (OLED) panels used in smartphones and tablets.

OLED panels, which are expected to overtake liquid-crystal displays, are more energy efficient than conventional LCDs and deliver clearer pictures.

Samsung has a near monopoly in the market for panels with active-matrix OLED, a technology which is increasingly being used in high-end smartphones and tablets and has been touted as the future of large-sized TV display.

Universal Display, however said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to decline sequentially, hurt by seasonal factors.

The company forecast 2011 revenue at $58-$62 million while analysts were expecting $48.9 million in revenue for the full year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Third-quarter revenue more than tripled to $21.8 million.

The company reported a net profit of $6 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $7.2 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago.

Shares rose to $53.45, post-market. They closed at $49.44 on Tuesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)