LG.Display Company Ltd. Stock Downgraded (LPL)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- LG.Display Company (NYSE:LPL) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its unimpressive growth in net income, poor profit margins and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 123.9% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $954.48 million to -$228.40 million.
• The gross profit margin for LG DISPLAY CO LTD is rather low; currently it is at 18.40%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of -3.90% trails that of the industry average.
• LG DISPLAY CO LTD has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, LG DISPLAY CO LTD increased its bottom line by earning $1.39 versus $1.32 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 104.7% in earnings (-$0.07 versus $1.39).
• LPL, with its very weak revenue results, has greatly underperformed against the industry average of 15.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues plummeted by 65.9%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.42, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Although the company had a strong debt-to-equity ratio, its quick ratio of 0.74 is somewhat weak and could be cause for future problems.

LG Display Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and supply of thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) to original equipment manufacturers and multinational corporations primarily in Asia, the United States, and Europe. The company has a P/E ratio of seven, below the average electronics industry P/E ratio of 24.1 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. LG.Display has a market cap of $7 billion and is part of the technology sector and electronics industry. Shares are down 44.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

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