LG DISPLAY MAKES PROFIT FOR 3RD QUARTER AFTER SERIES OF LOSSES

South Korea's LG Display Co. Ltd. reported a profit for July-September, ending a six-quarter run of loss, helped by shipments for Apple Inc.'s new iPhones and stay-at-home trends lifting panel demand for TVs and laptops, Reuters reported. 

The display maker posted operating profit of 164 billion won ($144.77 million) for the third quarter, versus a loss of 437 billion won in the same period a year earlier. The result compared with the 64 billion won Refinitiv SmartEstimate derived from 17 analyst estimates. Revenue rose 16% to 6.7 trillion won, LG Display said in a regulatory filing. 

Prices for LG Display’s main product, 55-inch liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for television sets, climbed 20% in the third quarter from a year earlier, showed data from WitsView, part of research provider TrendForce. Analysts said panel prices have gone up as there has been a surge in worldwide demand for televisions and monitors from people working and learning remotely due to the novel coronavirus. 

"Owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of TV sets in North America have remained sky-high, meaning the upswing of TV panel prices that began in the third quarter is now persisting into the fourth quarter,” said WitsView analyst Eric Chiou.