Gabelli Says Universal Display's (PANL) Deal with Samsung Underscores Leadership in OLED Market

Investors in Universal Display (Nasdaq: PANL) are taking profits Wednesday afternoon, however, considering the stock is up nearly 42 percent over the last two trading sessions, the decline is minimal.

Traders have been reacting to news from earlier this week of a supply agreement with Samsung.

Possibly buoying shares this afternoon, Gabelli's Hendi Susanto issued a research note earlier saying the Samsung deal underscores its thesis "on the inflection point in OLED growth and Universal Display's leadership in this industry." Specifically, Susanto points to Universal Display's "product road map and intellectual property assets (over 1,200 patents)."

The Gabelli analyst also notes additional positive catalysts for the company over the near term:

• rumors of new active matrix OLED product intros at the upcoming IFA trade show
  
  
• the launch of LG's Optimus Sol, a smartphone that uses Ultra AMOLED display
  
  
• potential for HTC to be a "major customer for Samsung's OLED display..."
  
  
• a chance Samsung is "preparing AMOLED displays for its new tablet product line."

Also notably, Susanto believes "Apple is incrementally more and more interested in OLED displays."

Gabelli still believes Universal Display "would make an attractive acquisition target for specialty materials manufacturers, particularly those focused on the LCD display market such as Merck KGA, Corning, LG Display and Samsung Mobile Display." Apple, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) are also mentioned.

The firm maintains a Buy rating on Universal Display. Gabelli sees the stock's present market value at $73 per share for the end of 2011 and at $90 for 2012.

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Freedom Broker Upgrades Taylor Devices, Inc. (TAYD) to Buy
• JPMorgan Upgrades TIC Solutions (TIC) to Neutral
• HSBC Downgrades Gerdau S.A. (GGBR4:BZ) (GGB) to Hold