The 3D printing industry is made up of companies that provide products and services capable of manufacturing a range of products. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, creates physical objects from digital designs. The printing process works by laying down thin layers of material in the form of liquid or powdered plastic, metal, or cement, and then fusing the layers together. Though still too slow for mass production, it is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to disrupt the manufacturing logistics and inventory management industries. The 3D printing industry is comprised of only a handful of companies, including players such as Proto Labs Inc., Faro Technologies Inc., and Desktop Metal Inc.
The industry is so young that it has no meaningful benchmark index. But the performance of these stocks can be compared to the broader market as represented by the Russell 1000 Index. These stocks have not performed well. Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS), the best performing 3D printing stock, has dramatically underperformed the Russell 1000, which has provided a total return of 13.8% over the past 12 months. This market performance number and all statistics in the tables below are as of March 4, 2022.
Here are the top three 3D printing stocks with the best value, fastest sales growth, and the best performance.
Best Value 3D Printing Stocks
These are the 3D printing stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. For companies in early stages of development or industries suffering from major shocks, this metric can be substituted as a rough measure of a business's value. A business with higher sales could eventually produce more profit when it achieves (or returns to) profitability. The price-to-sales ratio shows how much you're paying for the stock for each dollar of sales generated.
Best Value 3D Printing Stocks | |||
---|---|---|---|
Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | 12-Month Trailing P/S Ratio | |
Proto Labs Inc. (PRLB) | 51.41 | 1.4 | 2.9 |
3D Systems Corp. (DDD) | 14.61 | 1.9 | 3.0 |
Materialise NV (MTLS) | 17.56 | 1.0 | 4.2 |
Source: YCharts
- Proto Labs Inc.: Proto Labs is an e-commerce-based company that provides digital manufacturing services. It offers 3D printing, injection molding, CNC machining, and sheet metal fabrication.
- 3D Systems Corp.: 3D Systems provides 3D printing solutions. The company offers a range of hardware, software, and materials designed for additive manufacturing. Its products and services are used in a variety of industries and sectors, including aerospace, automotive, semiconductor, healthcare, and more. 3D Systems announced in February two separate acquisitions. The company agreed to acquire Titan Additive LLC, a designer and fabricator of large-format, industrial 3D printers, as well as Kumovis, a German-based additive manufacturing solutions provider for personalized healthcare applications. Financial terms of these transactions, which are both expected to close in April 2022, were not disclosed.
- Materialise NV: Materialise is a Belgium-based provider of additive manufacturing software and 3D printing services. It serves a range of industries, including the healthcare, aerospace, and automotive. The company announced in early January that it has completed its acquisition of Link3D, a global provider of workflow and digital manufacturing software. Materialise first announced its agreement to acquire Link3D in mid-November 2021 for $33.5 million.
Fastest Growing 3D Printing Stocks
These are the 3D printing stocks with the highest YOY sales growth for the most recent quarter. Rising sales can help investors identify companies that are able to grow revenue organically or through other means and find growing companies that have not yet reached profitability. In addition, accounting factors that may not reflect the overall strength of the business can significantly influence earnings per share. However, sales growth can also be potentially misleading about the strength of a business, because growing sales on money-losing businesses can be harmful if the company has no plan to reach profitability.
Fastest Growing 3D Printing Stocks | |||
---|---|---|---|
Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | Revenue Growth (%) | |
Desktop Metal Inc. (DM) | 3.67 | 1.1 | 906.6 |
Nano Dimension Ltd. (NNDM) | 3.20 | 0.8 | 205.9 |
Materialise NV (MTLS) | 17.56 | 1.0 | 29.0 |
Source: YCharts
- Desktop Metal Inc.: Desktop Metal manufactures 3D printers and related equipment used to build complex parts from metal. It also offers 3D printing software. The company serves a range of industries, including automotive, consumer products, education, and heavy industry.
- Nano Dimension Ltd.: Nano Dimension is an Israel-based 3D printing company focused on developing equipment and software for 3D printed electronics. It develops printers for multilayer printed circuit boards and nanotechnology-based inks. The company serves a range of industries, including consumer electronics, healthcare, aerospace, and automotive. Nano Dimension announced in early January that it has acquired Global Inkjet Systems Ltd., or "GIS", for $18.1 million in cash plus an additional earnout of between $1.3 million and $10.7 million within the next 27 months if GIS achieves certain financial performance goals. GIS is a U.K.-based developer and supplier of high-performance control electronics, software, and ink delivery systems.
- Materialise NV: See above for company description.
3D Printing Stocks With the Best Performance
These are the 3D printing stocks that had the smallest declines in total return over the past 12 months out of the companies we looked at.
3D Printing Stocks With the Best Performance | |||
---|---|---|---|
Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | 12-Month Trailing Total Return (%) | |
Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) | 21.90 | 1.4 | -10.4 |
3D Systems Corp. (DDD) | 14.61 | 1.9 | -43.0 |
Materialise NV (MTLS) | 17.56 | 1.0 | -49.5 |
Russell 1000 | N/A | N/A | 13.8 |
Source: YCharts
- Stratasys Ltd.: Stratasys offers 3D printing solutions, such as 3D printers, polymer materials, a software ecosystem, and related parts. It serves a variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and healthcare. The company announced in December the promotion of Vice President of Finance Eitan Zamir to the role of chief financial officer (CFO). He replaces Lilach Payorski, who stepped down after nine years at the company. Zamir joined Stratasys in 2019 from Price Waterhouse Coopers.
- 3D Systems Corp.: See above for company description.
- Materialise NV: See above for company description.
The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or to adopt any investment strategy. Though we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described in our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy.
-
Top Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Communications Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Consumer Discretionary Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Consumer Staples Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Energy Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Financial Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Healthcare Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Industrial Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Materials Stocks for July 2022
-
Top REITs for July 2022
-
Top Tech Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Utilities Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Dividend Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Growth Stocks for July 2022
-
Top Oil and Gas Penny Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Penny Stocks to Watch in June 2022
-
Examining Penny Stocks with Technical Analysis for June 2022
-
Top Small-Cap Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Tech Penny Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Agriculture Dividend Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Agriculture Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Copper Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Gold Stocks for June 2022
-
Top Mining Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Oil and Gas Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Oil Tanker Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Silver Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Steel Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Beer Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Car Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Casino Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Coffee Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Cosmetics Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Cruise Line Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Electric Car Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Food Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Hotel Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Movie Theater Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Restaurant Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Retail Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Tobacco Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Video Game Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top 3D Printing Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Alternative Energy Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Biotech Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Cybersecurity Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Defense Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Pharmaceutical Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Railroad Stocks for Q2 2022
-
Top Shipping Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Solar Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Wind Energy Stocks for Q3 2022
-
Top Robotics Stocks for Q1 2022