3-D Printing Sector Ideas

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>>> World’s largest 3D printer can build a small house in 80 hours


Interesting Engineering

by Maria Mocerino

4-24-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/world-s-largest-3d-printer-can-build-a-small-house-in-80-hours/ar-AA1nzt4N


The University of Maine has smashed its own world record by creating the largest polymer 3D printer, paving the way for the future of sustainable manufacturing.

In 2019, they unleashed the first record-breaking 3D printer that constructed a 600-square-foot house made of recyclable materials.

Built to meet a demand for more affordable housing, the state of Maine needs another 80,000 homes over the next six years with a shortage of manpower to make it happen.

The bigger and better Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0) 3D printer is here to help its predecessor reach this goal of providing more for less.

The FoF 1.0 3D printer will build affordable housing

The university, with a longstanding relationship with the US government, wanted to demonstrate that a 3D printer could print a home with a lower carbon footprint – as the construction industry produces about 37% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

The FoF 1.0 prints four times faster, which means that it can print a bio home in about 80 hours. A single-story bungalow, for example, could take a few months to build, but this printer can complete the project in less than four days.

The goal wasn’t to build a cheap house, but rather to build one that people wanted to live in, said Dr Habib Dagher, the Director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine.

Present for the official unveiling of the FoF 1.0 were representatives from the US Department of Defense, Energy, the Maine State Housing Authority, as well as other stakeholders who plan to put this Factory of the Future 1.0 3D printer to good use.

The FoF 1.0: The future of manufacturing and defense

The thermoplastic polymer printer can print objects as large as 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high — consuming 500 pounds of material per hour.

Its applications range from industries to national security — meaning, if they need to build ships fast, they have the technology to do so.

Though, typically, it takes years to build military ships, in WWII, the US manufactured the Liberty ships in 42 days. These large-scale 3D printers could feasibly meet that speed and maybe surpass it if needed.

The applications of the 3D printer, however, are far-reaching.

“UMaine and the Advanced Structures and Composites Center possess the innovation, capacity, and workforce to support the future needs of the Department of Defense in advanced manufacturing,” said US Sen. Susan Collins. “This is a great day for our University, our State, and our Nation.”

Because the FoF 1.0 is so much more than a printer. It can switch functionalities between “additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, continuous tap layup, and robotic arm operations.”

It’s both a computer and a manufacturer that the Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Army Corps of Engineers helped to design and build.

The FoF 1.0 stands to revolutionize a variety of industries. That includes affordable housing, public works such as bridge construction, and ocean and wind energy. And it’s all recyclable.

“You can basically deconstruct it, grind it up if you wish, the 3D printed parts, and reprint with them, do it again,” Dr Dagher said.

FoF 1.0 sits at the center of a new research center in Maine

With two immensely powerful machines, the University of Maine can develop biobased, locally sourced feedstocks, print affordable homes, and meet national security demands quickly.

The University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy called it an intersection of engineering and computing that will “accelerate solutions that strengthen the state’s economy and communities.”

The FoF 1.0 3D printer is only the beginning. Set to open this summer, the Green-Engineering and Material Factory of the Future (GEM) will break new ground as a 47,000 square foot manufacturing innovation center.

Creating sustainable manufacturing practices and filling a much-needed gap in the workforce is its objective. They intend to nurture the next generation of leaders through a sustainable model.

“The Maine College of Engineering and Computing is proud to be a strong partner in developing the Factory of the Future 1.0,” said Giovanna Guidoboni, inaugural dean of MCEC.

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>>> Autodesk (ADSK) is a prominent software company known for its expertise in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Yahoo! Finance has 22 analysts forecast a high of $270 and a low of $180 with an average of $240.


InvestorPlace

byMichael Que

October 18, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-metaverse-stocks-transport-future-001013006.html


The global 3D design industry is set to grow significantly, from $3 billion in 2022 to $13.3 billion by 2030 with a strong 20.6% CAGR. Growth factors include a reduction in manufacturing cost and process downtime, government investments in 3D printing projects, and the development of new industrial-grade 3D printing materials.

In Q3 2023, ADSK posted robust financials. Total revenue reached $1.3 billion, up 8% YoY. Technology development, solutions and consultancy hit $714 million. This doubled with a 104% YoY growth. Other services revenue surged to $704 million, marking a tenfold increase. These results highlight ADSK’s strong financial performance and demand response. Q3 financials were strong, with a trailing 12-month revenue of $5.21 billion. This represents an 8.70% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth.

ADSK’s growth strategy centers on end-to-end digital transformation by listening to customers’ needs to integrate real-time, immersive experiences into design and manufacturing processes. Collaborations, such as its partnership with Epic Games, make processes nearly real-time. This enhances efficiency and turnaround times which is unique to ADSK’s software. ADSK’s software can efficiently produce and run 3D drawings performing better than its competition. Autodesk’s commitment to cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) aligns with its vision for end-to-end digital transformation.

Furthermore, ADSK is one of the strong metaverse stocks with healthy financials and robust growth prospects. The 3D design industry’s explosive growth, ADSK’s impressive performance in Q3 2023 and ADSK’s focus on end-to-end digital transformation all showcase its commitment to innovation and efficiency.

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>>> How 3D printing could revolutionize auto manufacturing


Marketplace

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst

Mar 27, 2023


https://www.marketplace.org/2023/03/27/how-3d-printing-could-revolutionize-auto-manufacturing/


In an industrial office park south of Los Angeles, an American automaker is churning out sports cars in an attempt to transform manufacturing as we know it.

“It’s literally like saying in the typewriter era, ‘I’m about to create a desktop system,’” said Kevin Czinger, founder and CEO of Czinger Vehicles and Divergent Technologies.

Czinger’s system is making cars and car parts. They’re designed using artificial intelligence, constructed with specialized 3D printers and assembled by a team of robots.

“What I’m trying to do is create a machine that takes manufacturing, which is still stuck in 100-year-old-plus technologies, into the digital age,” Czinger told Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal on a tour of his companies’ production facility in Torrance, California. “3D printing is one piece of an overall system.”

The Divergent Blade, which was designed by Czinger, made headlines for featuring a fully 3D-printed body and chassis when it was unveiled in 2015. Customer deliveries for Czinger’s latest offering, the 21C, are scheduled for later this year.





The 21C has a $2 million base price, and as Czinger was quick to point out, set records at both WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the Circuit of the Americas in 2021.

“What it showed is with these tools, a small American team of inventors and designers could, within a two-year period of time, create a car that outperforms every existing car company’s vehicle,” he said.

But the 21C is only one step in Czinger’s ambitious plan to digitize manufacturing.

“If you wanted to leap ahead 20 years, you know what you want to have?” he asked Ryssdal rhetorically. “You want to have a globe filled with localized manufacturing where there’s no barrier to entry to people that want to create useful products.”

The term “localized manufacturing” is a key component of Czinger’s thesis. While colossal factories like the Ford Motor Co.’s River Rouge complex in Michigan or Foxconn’s compound in China known as “iPhone City” rely on economies of scale to cover their startup costs, Czinger argues that flexible manufacturing facilities that can adapt to changing demand and design specifications are the way of the future.

“You don’t have to have hundreds of printing presses printing different books,” said Czinger, returning to his desktop computer system analogy. “You can send data and it prints the Bible, you send data and it prints the ‘Brothers Karamazov’ … that’s the fundamental difference.”

That flexibility, he said, can help localized factories remain permanent fixtures of their communities.

As an example, he showed Ryssdal a hexagonal-shaped assembly system at the center of the production facility.

“This has assembled a sports car, luxury SUV parts, other brands’ sports car and a drone for General Atomics back-to-back-to-back with zero switchover time,” he said. “And if you changed all of those designs and rolled them back in, it would immediately start to assemble them again.”

“Let me ask you the labor force question,” said Ryssdal, mentioning Czinger’s older brothers, who worked as car dealership mechanics in Cleaveland while he was coming of age. “Could they get a job here working for their little brother?”

“Absolutely,” Czinger responded. “When people asked me the question, ‘Will this wipe out auto factory jobs?’ which is the question you’re really asking, [I say,] ‘If you go to a modern auto factory, you see half-mile-long lines where … there are no workers.’” At today’s factories, robots doing specialized tasks, like welding one piece of sheet metal to another, have already taken the place of many workers.

Czinger insists that the majority of jobs that do still exist in modern auto factories — general assembly jobs — would not be impacted by the type of transformation he envisions.

“We replace the cost and expense of building those leviathan factories, with all of their capital risk … with something that’s much more flexible,” he said. “So it actually makes any automotive factory in the West stronger and more competitive, without taking away any general assembly jobs.”

This system is still relatively new. Czinger’s companies are in the midst of building 80 Czinger 21Cs, while making parts for other brands such as Aston Martin and continuing to refine their technology.

As they ramp up production, Czinger said financing remains one of his biggest headaches. “Our financial system and venture capital are designed to finance quick cash-generation software applications,” he said. “I’m doing something that literally required hundreds of fundamental inventions just to make it work.”

As the credit markets tighten in the wider economy, Czinger said he’s grateful for a recent investment from Hexagon AB, a Swedish company.

“That gives us a very good-feeling capital buffer, knock on wood, some years out,” he said.

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>>> Are we on the cusp of a 3D-printed housing revolution?


Yahoo Finance

Jesse Chase-Lubitz

December 12, 2022


https://www.yahoo.com/news/are-we-on-the-cusp-of-a-3-d-printed-housing-revolution-100003031.html


Need a home? Just press print.

3D printers are increasingly providing a cheaper, greener and faster alternative to home building. The individualized designs and walls, which are made of stacked thin layers of concrete, are popping up everywhere, from a 100-house community in Georgetown, Texas to a single-family home in Borneo, Malaysia. In a time of skyrocketing housing prices, and growing concern for sustainability, 3D-printed houses are changing from niche gimmick to a potential mainstream housing solution.

“It has been an exponential take off,” said Marchant van den Heever, technical director of Harcourt Technologies, which distributes 3D printers and related equipment to companies in the U.K.

3D printing offers potential solutions to major challenges for the U.S. housing market: reducing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change and rising housing prices contributing to surging homelessness. Some experts expect the American industry to boom in the next two to three years.

Despite rumors that these houses can be built for just $10,000 and in as little as 24 hours, the reality is not quite that revolutionary. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” said Justin Kinsella, CEO of Harcourt Technologies. “We saw some crazy stuff, where there are guys saying you can do a house for $10,000 and you can do it in two days. There is no such thing as that.”

But 3D-printed houses are already 5%-10% cheaper than a regular build in the United States, according to Zach Mannheimer, CEO of Alquist 3D, which aims to build affordable 3D-printed homes to serve lower-income communities, and experts predict costs will go down as the industry expands. A 2018 study in the academic research publication IOP Science: Materials Science and Engineerings, based in the U.K., argues that 3D printing can cut costs by at least 35%.

While a home with all its windows, doors, and utilities cannot be built in 24-48 hours, it is possible to print the walls in that time. Industry specialists say that the final product can be ready in as little as a month and a half, as opposed to the six to eight months it takes to build a typical house.

Though they were first invented in the 1980s, 3D printers became popular in the 2000s. They have little in common with the home or office printers that write in ink on paper. Imagine a robotic pipe with a nozzle at the end, sort of like a squeeze bag used for spreading icing on a cake. Instead of being moved by a human arm, the pipe is attached to scaffolding and programmed to move in a specified shape. These printers are commonly used to make components for larger machines, limbs or organs for use in education, and more recently, masks, respirators, valves and more for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integrating 3D printing into mainstream housing construction means radically overhauling the way homes are built. A typical house is made by pouring concrete into a foundation and building a rough framing of the walls and floors out of wooden planks. Builders then install basic plumbing and electricity before adding insulation and the final surfaces to the walls and floors.

For a 3D-printed house, they still need the concrete foundation for stability, but then the walls go up immediately using slightly thicker forms of concrete that will hold up as the printer goes around. The printer is programmed to leave perfect cutouts for windows and doors. Though a multi-story house is slightly more complicated, there are successful examples, including a 3D-printed apartment building in Germany. No wood panels or bricks are involved.

In some cases, the printers are brought to the site, while in others, the houses — or components of the houses — are built off-site and transported to the location. There is still some discussion in the industry about which system is preferable.

The U.S. is in the midst of a housing crisis, with housing prices rising by double-digit percentages per year. Although the shortage has more to do with regulations that restrict new housing production rather than the cost of building new homes, the need for cheaper housing and the rising production capability of 3D printing could help the industry get off the ground.

Some experts caution that 3D printing will not be growing quickly in the housing sector in the immediate future. “This is not going to change the industry next year,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. “We are still talking about very small demonstration projects. ... My expectation is that this kind of construction is likely to scale up slowly.”

Dietz said that any innovation that improves productivity is valuable to the building industry, and that the technology could help address the current U.S. labor shortage.

However, the NAHB predicts 3D-printed houses will constitute a small portion of the market because the majority of houses in the U.S. are made with wooden frames. “We tend to think of 3D-printed homes as a subset of concrete-framed homes, which are just 10% of single-family homes,” Dietz said. “So it’s a small share of an already small share.”

If scaled up, 3D-printed buildings are significantly better for the environment than those that are built from scratch on-site. The building process cuts waste by 60% because it only manufactures the materials required. There’s no need to trim or subtract excess materials so they aren’t sending unused wood, concrete or glass for window panes to the landfill, according to academic research. And 3D printers work better with nontraditional cement alternatives such as “hempcrete” — a mixture of hemp, sand and other materials — than they do with regular concrete. That could encourage the concrete industry to pursue more sustainable alternatives to concrete, which creates significant greenhouse gas emissions in its production.

Despite those advantages, of the 912,000 single-family houses built in the United States in 2021, almost none were 3D-printed. Mannheimer estimates that just 10 3D-printed houses were built last year. The first ever commercial permit to build a 3D-printed house was given in February 2020 and the largest community 3D printed homes in the world — 100 of them, designed by the renowned Danish architecture firm BIG — is in the early stages of construction in Texas.

Although the technology hasn’t yet become mainstream anywhere in the world, the globe is dotted with 3D-printed buildings. The earliest ones were produced in the late 2010s. The first was a 3D-printed residential building in Yaroslavl, Russia, in 2017. An office building in Dubai was built the same year, and a house in Copenhagen was completed in 2018. As the technology has developed, more countries have developed both models and usable homes. Japan built a model pod-shaped house for just $25,500 in 2021. Canada is home to Airbnb’s first 3D-printed home, the world’s first 3D-printed school is in Malawi, and Kenya is planning to build 52 affordable houses. There’s a printed house resembling a submarine in the Czech Republic, houses and an apartment building in Germany, and a series of five homes in the Netherlands.

“The technology is not yet mature or commonplace enough,” Mallikarjuna Nadagouda, a researcher with the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote in an email to Yahoo News. “There are no codes or standards relating to manufacturers or specifications, and very few design professionals know how to design, specify and procure these for commercial clients.”

The primary barrier is access to, and mass production of, the right types of materials. But the industry also wants more investment in research and an increase in education programs to build a workforce.

The first hurdle — access to more suitable materials — is also what makes this industry potentially more sustainable. Traditional cement, which is also known as Portland cement, is the source of 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions because of the extremely high heat required to mix cement into concrete. It is also not the ideal consistency for 3D printing. This incompatibility has pushed the industry to seek out alternatives, which also happen to produce little or net-zero emissions.

“In terms of sustainability, finding the appropriate environmentally friendly material for this technology remains the biggest challenge associated with 3D-printed construction,” said Nadagouda.

The material used in the printer has to strike a delicate balance: liquid enough to join with the previous layer but hard enough to hold its form once it’s printed. It also needs to stay wet enough for the next layer to join with it in the time it takes for the printer to come back around.

Portland cement cannot immediately hold a strong structure. “[Portland cement] sits inside a wooden box until it hardens,” said Charles Overy, director and owner of LGM, a company that provides 3D printing software, modeling and design assistance. “But when you print concrete it has to hold itself up right after it comes out of the printer.”

It’s still possible to use it, but it’s not ideal. In response, the industry has started developing alternatives such as “lava-crete,” which is a combination of pulverized red lava rock, cement, and water. Geopolymers, which are a grouping of minerals, are also a popular alternative among 3D printing companies. All of these alternatives emit significantly less greenhouse gases than Portland cement. One study shows that hempcrete, which emits no carbon in the creation process, can store carbon as well.

“The sustainability right now, in my opinion, is partly a byproduct of not using Portland cement,” said Overy. A rise of 3D printing in the housing market might provide an incentive for concrete companies to start producing greener alternatives that are more suitable for 3D printers in order to serve that market as well as traditional construction.

Companies are also trying to source their materials locally, which could reduce the emissions caused by transporting materials. COBOD, the world’s largest supplier of 3D printers around the world, has the capability to mix any combination of materials needed to make a reliable cement alternative. In the U.K., Harcourt Technologies is already using this technology to source locally and mix on site. “In a way, it’s open source,” said CEO Kinsella. “You can use [COBOD’s] machines in the center of London or in Timbuktu and you can use whatever aggregates are locally available, obviously within normal concrete criteria.”

Developers say they are increasingly in need of a workforce to bolster production. The 3D printing industry requires someone to operate the printer, designers who understand the mechanics of printing, and people with a chemical background who can develop alternative materials for printing. Some companies are working on instituting six-to-eight-week courses in local colleges. Alquist 3D is partnering with Virginia Tech to create a 3D construction curriculum. In the U.K., Building for Humanity is starting a similar training course at Rossendale College.

Some consumers might worry about whether a house made from 3D-printed hempcrete can withstand intense pressures such hurricanes. Developers say that government grants for studies showing that they can would be helpful. In September, the New York Times reported that a series of 3D-printed homes in Nacajuca, Mexico, have tolerated extreme conditions, including a 7.4-magnitude earthquake. But more research is needed.

“Some 3D-printed homes can withstand hurricanes, floods or fires under lab testing conditions claimed by many companies. However, these claims need to be verified in real-time situations, which will take many years,” said Nadagouda.

If 3D-printed houses demonstrate that they can handle harsh environments, the speed of construction could make 3D-printed housing helpful in responding to humanitarian crises. “3D [printed] housing may certainly be beneficial during emergency situations such as natural disasters,” said Nadagouda.

“Every 3D printing company has talked to someone in Ukraine,” said Mannheimer, adding that his company was in conversations with people in Puerto Rico and Florida following hurricanes there.

Dietz, along with several experts in the industry, warned that local building codes will also slow down the proliferation of 3D-printed housing, as each local government has a different set of rulings governing safe construction. “We see modular construction at much higher rates in European countries because they have national codes and national rules,” said Dietz, referring to a more general category of houses which are pre-fabricated and usually built in a factory. “Whereas here, it’s each individual jurisdiction. That presents a challenge in terms of scaling up.”

In May, President Biden launched a program to promote 3D-printing technology as a housing solution in the U.S. The initiative, called Additive Manufacturing Forward (AM Forward), called on large manufacturers in the U.S. to pledge to buy 3D-printed parts from U.S.-based suppliers and reduce their dependence on overseas factories. While this may be a good start to government support, it does not address the need for research or better access to materials. None of the people interviewed for this article had heard of AM Forward and it is unclear what impact it has had since. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

HUD seems optimistic about 3D-printed houses as a climate change solution. “3D printing is one of the promising advances in construction which the HUD team sees as having the potential to lower housing costs and increase energy efficiency and resilience,” a HUD spokesperson told Yahoo News in an email.

“There are sustainable materials and techniques being developed, but it is still experimental,” said Nadagouda. “The technology is still in its infancy. It has not been tried and tested, making consumers reluctant to choose 3D housing. ... Over time, the techniques and technology will be refined, and may become commonplace, but for now, it is just too early in the development cycle.”

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>>> Top 3D Printing Stocks for Q4 2022


SSYS is top for value and performance and NNDM is top for growth


Investopedia

By NOAH BOLTON

October 06, 2022


https://www.investopedia.com/3d-printing-stocks-5080787


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 -12.5% over the past 12 months.

This market performance number and all statistics in the tables below are as of Sept. 20, 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

Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) 15.49 1.0 1.6

3D Systems Corp. (DDD) 9.00 1.2 2.0

Proto Labs Inc. (PRLB) 37.49 1.0 2.1

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. On Sept. 13, Stratasys completed the merger of its MakerBot subsidiary with Ultimaker, which offers platforms used to make 3-D printers. Ultimaker is backed by NPM Capital. The merged company will keep the Ultimaker name and focus on providing solutions, hardware, software and materials to the industry. NPM Capital will have majority ownership of the new company at 53.5%, and Stratasys will own 46.5%.

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.
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. On Aug. 5, Proto Labs announced financial results for Q2 2022, the three-month period ending on June 30, 2022. Net income fell more than 80% to $2.6 million from the prior-year quarter while revenue rose 3.1%.
3
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

Nano Dimension Ltd. (NNDM) 2.45 0.6 1,270

Desktop Metal Inc. (DM) 3.07 1.0 203.9

Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) 15.49 1.0 13.3


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. On Sept. 1, Nano Dimension released Q2 2022 results. The company's net loss widened sharply to $40.0 million from a loss of $13.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier even as revenue soared more than 13-fold. The larger second-quarter loss was fueled partly by $10.9 million in non-cash adjustments for depreciation and amortization expenses, and share-based payments.

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. On Aug. 08, the company reported Q2 2022 results. Desktop Metals' net loss increase nearly seven-fold to $297.3 million compared to the same quarter a year earlier even as revenue tripled.

Stratasys Ltd.: 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

Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) 15.49 1.0 -34.5

Proto Labs Inc. (PRLB) 37.49 1.0 -50.6

Materialise NV (MTLS) 10.95 0.6 -53.9


Materialise NV: Materialise is a Belgium-based provider of additive manufacturing software and 3D printing services. It serves a range of industries, including healthcare, aerospace, and automotive. On Sept. 7, Materialise completed its acquisition of Identity3D, which makes products that encrypt, distribute, and track digital parts as they move through supply-chains. The value of the deal was not specified in the announcement.

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>>> 3D Systems Corporation (DDD), through its subsidiaries, provides 3D printing and digital manufacturing solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers 3D printers, such as stereolithography, selective laser sintering, direct metal printing, multi jet printing, color jet printing, and extrusion and SLA based bioprinting that transform digital data input generated by 3D design software, computer aided design (CAD) software, or other 3D design tools into printed parts. It also develops, blends, and markets various print materials, such as plastic, nylon, metal, composite, elastomeric, wax, polymeric dental, and bio-compatible materials. In addition, the company provides digital design tools, including software, scanners, and haptic devices, as well as solutions for product design, simulation, mold and die design, 3D scan-to-print, reverse engineering, production machining, metrology, and inspection and manufacturing workflows under the Geomagic brand. Further, it offers 3D Sprint and 3DXpert, a proprietary software to prepare and optimize CAD data and manage the additive manufacturing processes, which provides automated support building and placement, build platform management, print simulation, and print queue management; and Bioprint Pro, a software solution that allows researchers to design and bioprint repeatable experiments. Additionally, the company provides maintenance and training services; manufacturing services; and software and precision healthcare services. It primarily serves companies and small and midsize businesses in medical, dental, automotive, aerospace, durable good, government, defense, technology, jewelry, electronic, education, consumer good, energy, biotechnology, and other industries through direct sales force, channel partners, and appointed distributors. 3D Systems Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina. <<<



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>>> World's largest 3D-printed neighborhood to break ground in Texas


November 4, 2021

by Oscar Holland

CNN


https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/icon-3d-printed-homes-austin


Anew property development in Austin, Texas, is set to become the world's largest community of 3D-printed homes.

Scheduled to break ground next year, the project will feature 100 single-story houses "printed" on-site using advanced robotic construction and a concrete-based building material.

Digital renderings of the neighborhood, unveiled last week, show rows of properties with their roofs covered in solar cells. The homes will each take approximately a week to build, according to firms behind the development.

The project is a collaboration between homebuilding company Lennar and ICON, a Texas-based construction firm specializing in 3D-printed structures. The houses have been co-designed by the Danish architecture practice Bjarke Ingels Group.

Although ICON would not disclose the cost of the project, the company said its technology is significantly faster and cheaper than conventional construction methods -- partly because it requires less manual labor. The building process will involve five of the firm's 46-foot-wide robotic "Vulcan" printers, which pipe out a concrete mix called Lavacrete according to a pre-programmed home design.

The firms behind the project said houses can be significantly cheaper and quicker to produce using 3D printing.

The firm said it can produce homes up to 3,000 square feet in size, and has previously printed the walls of a house measuring 400 to 500 square feet in just 24 hours (spread over the course of "several days"). Roofs, windows, doors and finishes will be added afterward by Lennar.

In a press release, ICON's co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard described the Austin neighborhood as a "watershed moment in the history of community-scale development."

"Construction-scale 3D printing not only delivers higher-quality homes faster and more affordably, but fleets of printers can change the way that entire communities are built for the better," he is quoted as saying. "The United States faces a deficit of approximately 5 million new homes, so there is a profound need to swiftly increase supply without compromising quality, beauty, or sustainability and that is exactly the strength of our technology."

In a statement, Martin Voelkle, partner at Bjarke Ingels Group, described the 3D-printed buildings -- and their photovoltaic roofs -- as "significant steps towards reducing waste in the construction process, as well as towards making our homes more resilient, sustainable and energy self-sufficient."

Advocates of 3D-printed construction believe it can greatly reduce labor costs and construction time. Research has also suggested that the method can slash waste and carbon dioxide emissions. The ability of 3D printers to construct buildings without formwork (the concrete molds that cement is typically poured into) can significantly reduce overall use of the material, which is responsible for about 8% of global CO2 emissions annually.

A recent study in Singapore, for instance, found that constructing a bathroom unit using 3D printing produced almost 86% less carbon dioxide than conventional construction methods -- and was over 25% cheaper. Critics have meanwhile pointed out that 3D concrete printing still relies on a non-renewable material, and that structures' safety and stability are not specifically addressed by existing building codes.

Is this 3D-printed home made of clay the future of housing?

'Not science fiction'

While the newly announced Austin project is ICON's largest to date, the firm has been using 3D printing to build social, or subsidized, housing in Mexico and Texas since 2018. The company also recently revealed that it is working with NASA to make building materials from moon dust, with a view to constructing a lunar base.

Earlier this year, ICON unveiled plans for a separate four-home development in East Austin. In 2019, the company also announced that it is building a community of 50 homes for low-income families in Tabasco, Mexico.

ICON has yet to unveil prices for the homes in its new Austin development. Earlier this year, the first printed home to hit the market in the US -- a one-story, 1,400-square-foot space in Riverhead, New York -- was listed for $299,000. Another 3D printing firm, Palari Group, recently unveiled plans to build 15 3D-printed properties near Palm Springs, California, with prices for three-bedroom homes starting at $595,000.

Speaking to CNN in 2019, Ballard said that his company's technology could "deliver a much higher-quality product to the housing market at a speed and price" that is "typically not available" for low-income families. His firm believes its technology can also be used to combat homelessness and may be deployed during disaster relief.

"3D printing is not science fiction," Ballard said at the time. "We have crossed that threshold from science fiction into reality. In the future, our bet is that this will be humanity's best hope for a housing solution that matches our highest values and ideals."

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>>> 3D Bioprinting: Eradicating Transplantation Waiting Lists And Testing Drugs On Living Tissues


The Medical Futurist

11 March 2021


https://medicalfuturist.com/3d-bioprinting-overview/


From time to time, news arises about 3D-printed organs. On such occasions, people usually think that a machine can already create readily available, implantable human organs. However, the reality is far from this optimistic image.

Researchers worldwide are working on possible solutions: from a group that printed a miniature kidney, through technological solutions like BioAssemblyBot we wrote about earlier, to entirely new methods that can lead to patient-specific heart tissue printing. The list is long and set in a clinical setting. We checked out where the technology stands today and where it might lead us in healthcare tomorrow.

3D bioprinting can be the response to worldwide organ shortages and the increasing reluctance to test new cosmetic, chemical, and pharmaceutical products on animals. Whether it will become a reality anytime soon is not certain, although research efforts have grown rapidly over the past years. As seen in this video, the technology behind bioprinting is getting better and (much) faster. However, this hydrogen-based technology is still not bioprinting – it is not the content but the printing technology itself. However, a breakthrough might be just around the corner.

Here’s how bioprinting will break into healthcare revolutionising organ donations and animal testing.

What is bioprinting?

Put the term bioprinting next to Earth-invader androids, shiny spaceships in a post-apocalyptic setting, and you’ll get the next Hollywood blockbuster. However, as opposed to malevolent aliens, bioprinting not only exists in sci-fi movies, but it will also transform healthcare in the following decades. Before going into details, though, let’s dissect the technology itself.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a state-of-the-art technology that means creating living tissues, such as blood vessels, bones, heart or skin, via the additive manufacturing technology of 3D printing. Traditional 3D printing implies the production of three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file, using a layering process. In its most common version, a source material, such as plastic, is liquefied, and then the machine adds layer after layer on the platform until you have a fully formed object.

Needless to say, printing organs is a “little bit” more complicated. In the early 2000s researchers discovered that living cells could be sprayed through the nozzles of inkjet printers without damaging them. However, it is not enough to have the cells themselves, they need a nurturing environment to stay alive: food, water, and oxygen. Nowadays, these conditions are provided by a microgel – think of gelatin enriched with vitamins, proteins, and other life-sustaining compounds. Moreover, to create conditions fostering the fastest and most efficient cell growth, researchers plant the cells around 3D scaffolds made of biodegradable polymers or collagen so they can grow into fully functional tissue.

How to 3D print an organ

Let’s take the example of the bladder, a simpler organ consisting of only two types of cells. At first, researchers scan the patient’s organ to determine personalised size and shape. Then they create a scaffold to give cells something to grow on in three dimensions and add cells from the patient to this scaffold. That’s painstakingly labour-intensive work and could take as long as eight weeks. Finally, a bioreactor creates the optimal environment for the cells to grow into an organ. When doctors finally place the organ in the patient, the scaffold has already disappeared or disappears soon after surgery.

This description cannot demonstrate how difficult and time-consuming the entire process is. We are a long way, even decades away, from bioprinting fully functioning, complex organs; however, 3D bioprinting is already used to generate model tissues for research and is also used in regenerative medicine.

A solution for organ shortages

The solution to alarming worldwide organ shortages comes from technology. 3D bioprinting is the response of technology to critical tissue shortages hampering medical professionals’ tasks and endangering many lives. In the U.S., a new person is added to the waiting list of organ donors every 9 minutes. The number of patients waiting for an organ donor has multiplied five-fold in the last 26 years. 17 people die every day due to the lack of available organs in the U.S. alone.

Other countries are not better off either. In 2018, over 150 000 patients in Europe were registered on organ waiting lists. In the U.K., 408 patients died while waiting for an organ in 2019. In 2020, the U.K.’s organ donation policy changed to an opt-in system, meaning every adult agrees to become an organ donor when they die unless they state that they do not wish to donate. This has remarkably decreased the waiting lines in the country.

Closing the gaps

A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a 3D bioprinting technique called “Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels” (FRESH). During a panel discussion on the virtual AMS Summit in March 2021, the project’s team leader, Professor Adam Feinberg, noted that “we could have a bioprinted heart in an animal in 12 years.” Talking further about the possible future timeline for the technology, another expert, Katie Weimer, VP of Regenerative Medicine at 3D Systems, said the issue is merely “an engineering problem.”

In a recent interview for our Patreon site, Erik Gatenholm, CEO of CELLINK, estimated the same. He said, “we will see fully functioning organs within the next decade or so.” Gatenholm added, “scientists have been able to bioprint hearts, lungs, kidneys, skin, corneas and more throughout the last 5 years and are currently working towards developing full functioning organs. As of now, the industry is progressing at a steady pace due to the democratisation of 3D bioprinting technology.”

Bioprinting making waves on the market

At the AMS Summit, industry leaders went into an in-depth discussion on the commercialisation of 3D bioprinting. Several companies that focus on bioprinting tissues or implants rather than organs themselves already have go-to-market products – like Particle3D, Aspect Biosystems, Rokit Healthcare, Viscient Biosciences, Dimension Inx, and Poietis. But of course, major players on the field like Swedish CELLINK or US-based Organovo also have their technologies on the market already.

The pioneers of 3D bioprinting

The most well-known tissue engineering company is the San Diego-based company, Organovo. It has been actively developing a line of human tissues for use in medical research and drug discovery. They create highly customised 3D human tissues as dynamic models of healthy and diseased human biology for drug development and recently have been in the news for creating miniature human kidneys in the lab, together with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Today the company still lacks the much-talked-about FDA-approval to its technology. It focuses on replacing animals in testing processes, novel drug discovery and custom disease models, as well as single-cell RNA sequencing. Organovo seeks to have multiple IND filings with the FDA by the end of 2025.

CELLINK has been doing great over the past months. The company develops both bioprinters and bioprinting materials for providing ready-to-print or use models for researchers and healthcare providers to enable 3D cell culture, personalised medicine, and enhanced therapeutics. Their approach helped to decrease the price of bioprinting devices enormously, which allowed more and more research or education institutions and organisations to buy one of these machines – and this inevitably led to even more research and more breakthrough in the industry. Through acquisitions and cooperations, CELLINK indeed became a bioconvergence powerhouse.

Biotech veteran, US-based United Therapeutics develops pharmaceuticals to treat vascular diseases and cancer. The company started bioprinting kidneys, together with Israeli CollPlant, to use the latter’s unique bioink technology and human collagen in the process that aims to reduce worldwide organ shortages.

With 3D bioprinting against testing drugs on animals

Bioprinting can also help eliminate the need for testing new drugs on animals. Replacing lengthy and expensive clinical trials, which often have no results, is a good market opportunity whereby pharma companies could save billions of dollars. Testing medication on mice, rabbits or other animals is in many cases not efficient as the particular drug could still have a different effect on people.

On the other hand, 3D printed tissue proves to be an effective means of testing new pharmaceuticals, meaning that drugs can be thoroughly assessed and brought to market more quickly, all without harming animal test subjects. Moreover, as testing of cosmetics on animals has always been even more controversial than testing for medical purposes, with the emergence of 3D printing human skin, testing cosmetics on animals could disappear once and for all.

In situ bioprinting

The solution means 3D printing tissues directly at the point of injury – no matter whether it’s about bones, tissues or skin. In the next decade, doctors may, therefore, be able to scan wounds and spray on layers of cells to heal them very rapidly. The first results are already out: Australian researchers from UNSW Sydney developed a ceramic-based ink that can print bone-like structures without the use of chemicals or radiation. This technology may help surgeons to 3D print bone parts with living cells – practically to print a replacement bone, including living cells, directly inside a patient’s body.

Scientists in China are also working on “in vivo in situ” solutions and developed a tool that can carry out tissue repair inside the body, used on patients with gastric wounds.

The challenges of 3D bioprinting

The Medical Futurist doesn’t like to ruin optimistic and positive visions for the future, but bioprinting faces severe challenges from technological, financial, and regulatory perspectives.

The most burning issue is the question of regulation. Leaving the market unregulated might lead to a thriving black market. As soon as scaffolds are available and methods are open source, people worldwide might be tempted to start printing unregulated and untested biomaterials and sell them to desperate people.

The FDA has a short segment on 3D bioprinting, but it does not explicitly cover living cells. Those applications are due to go through the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. As the FDA does not regulate bioprinting but the medical devices and solutions coming out of the printers, regulations still lag behind the technology’s speed.

A 2020 October decision to give 510k clearance to A.D.A.M., a Ukrainian company to work on 3D printed bone implants out of bioceramics, however, indicated that the regulatory body is about to speed up in the field. A.D.A.M. is already in the testing phase and expected to be on the market in 2022 – after getting the FDA approval.

3D Bioprinting is an overly complicated technology, and its many technological, biological challenges; ethical and regulatory issues can already be seen from this brief introduction. It won’t be applied in practice overnight, but it’s going to be a reality to deal with within a decade.

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>>> Big Gains for 3D Printing in Manufacturing, ASME and Carbon Survey Finds

Report shows that nearly all respondents now use a 3D printing process for manufacturing


Carbon

Sep 16, 2021


https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/big-gains-for-3d-printing-in-manufacturing-asme-and-carbon-survey-finds-301378972.html


REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carbon, a leading 3D printing technology company, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) announced today the findings from a survey which found that the 3D printing process has become an increasingly integral technology in the development of plastic parts and products for production use.

The ASME survey of practicing engineers involved in the design or development of plastic parts found that 88% of respondents now use 3D printing/additive manufacturing in some way. And the technology, previously best known for its use in creating prototypes, is increasingly being used for the production of finished parts. 40% of respondents said they now use additive manufacturing to produce products.

The report, "Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing Adoption from Prototype to Production," includes findings that the technology has secured footholds broadly across industries and that its growing adoption is based on three categories of attributes: its speed, flexibility in timing and design and cost-efficiency. In various ways, digitally-driven product development is making major inroads into industries and manufacturing processes long dominated by two older methods that are less flexible and tend to be more capital intensive: milling and injection molding.

"Additive manufacturing is being broadly implemented in many varied industries, and is having an incredible impact on the supply chain and manufacturing across the world," said Phil DeSimone, cofounder and Chief Product & Business Development Officer at Carbon. "We have seen OEMs embrace 3D printing as a strategic advantage to develop better products and bring them to market in less time. Advances in materials, software and hardware are making it possible for these companies to design products, validate market fit and move to production faster and with better results."

Other key findings from the report include:

For the development of polymer products, 3D printing is used more often than either injection molding or milling.

3D printing is still the most often used process for prototyping.
Engineers within the life sciences and industrial machinery sectors reported the highest levels of familiarity with 3D printing.

Use of and familiarity with 3D printing is heavily influenced by age and company size — the younger the engineer and the larger the company, the greater the embrace of 3D.

"Additive manufacturing, especially in the polymer space, has grown by an incredible amount over the past couple of years," said Lauralyn McDaniel, head of industry strategy and engagement with Metrix, an ASME Company. "Seeing the strong use of 3D printing in polymer production is evidence that additive manufacturing is moving into the mainstream, especially in areas like athletic equipment where the unique lattice design capabilities of 3D printing have been used to increase performance and safety, as well as in healthcare and aerospace, which have been leaders in production use of additive manufacturing."

For the full report, which was commissioned by Carbon, and a deeper look into the state of additive manufacturing and 3D printing please visit: https://resources.asme.org/am3dp-polymer

About Carbon

Carbon is a 3D printing technology company helping businesses to develop better products and bring them to market in less time. The Carbon DLS™ process combines versatile printers, advanced software, and best-in-class materials to deliver functional parts with end-use performance and aesthetics, helping engineers and designers to create products that outperform expectations. From prototyping and low-volume production to production-at-scale, global organizations, including adidas, Ford Motor Company, and Becton, Dickinson and Company, use the Carbon process to create a wide range of functional end-use parts and print them reliably wherever and whenever they need them through Carbon's production network partners. Carbon is a venture-backed company headquartered in Redwood City, CA. To learn more, follow Carbon on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education, and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. In 2020, ASME formed the International Society of Interdisciplinary Engineers (ISIE) LLC, a new for-profit subsidiary to house business ventures that will bring new and innovative products, services, and technologies to the engineering community, and later established the holding company, Global Knowledge Solutions LLC. In 2021, ASME launched a second for-profit subsidiary, Metrix Connect LLC, an industry events and content platform to accelerate digital transformation in the engineering community and the exclusive agent for the Mechanical Engineering® brand of media products. For more information, visit www.asme.org.

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>>> Carbon, Inc brings together innovations in software, hardware, and molecular science to deliver industry-leading digital manufacturing solutions. With proprietary Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology and family of programmable liquid resins, manufacturers can unlock new business opportunities such as mass customization, on-demand inventory, and previously impossible product designs. The Carbon Platform allows customers to build uniquely differentiated products while reducing waste and speeding time to market.

Carbon was founded by Dr. Joseph DeSimone and Philip DeSimone in 2013.

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>>> Why Shares in Trimble Rose 10% in August

One of Cathie Wood's favorite stocks outperformed last month.


Motley Fool

by Lee Samaha

Sep 3, 2021


https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/09/03/why-shares-in-trimble-rose-10-in-august/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


Key Points

The future looks bright for this technology play.

What happened

Shares in positioning technology company Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) rose 10.2% in August, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move comes on the back of a couple of positive pieces of news flow. The first was an excellent set of second-quarter earnings released at the start of the month. More on that in a moment.

The second was the announcement on Aug. 19 of a new $750 million share repurchase program. Investors often see share repurchase authorizations positively for stock prices as company buying provides underlying support for the stock.

In the earnings report, management declared it had exceeded expectations in the second quarter and promptly raised revenue and earnings guidance for the second time this year. Management started the year forecasting full-year adjusted earnings per share of $2.25-$2.45, and then raised its guidance to $2.30-$2.50 on the first-quarter earnings call and then again to $2.45-$2.65 on the second-quarter earnings call.

So what

The good news on earnings and guidance demonstrates the recovery in many of Trimble's end markets in 2021. As a reminder, Trimble's positioning technology precisely positions and models customers' physical assets or activities. Key end markets include the geospatial industry (mapping, etc.), transportation (real-time tracking of truck fleets, etc.), buildings and infrastructure (construction), and resources and utilities.

All four segments grew strongly in the second quarter leading to the company reporting an overall 27% increase in organic sales in the quarter.

Now what

With Trimble's end markets now firmly in recovery mode, investors can look forward to the company developing its long-term growth aims. These include becoming an integrated part of its customers' daily workflow and consequently growing its software and recurring revenue. Meanwhile, advancements in software and analytics (for example, in precision agriculture) will open up new markets and applications and increase the value of Trimble's hardware and software solutions.

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>>> Why Investors Should Buy Autodesk Stock Right Now


One investor has many reasons to believe this is a low-risk, double-digit grower from here.


Motley Fool

by Jon Quast And Brian Feroldi

Sep 6, 2021


https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/09/06/why-investors-should-buy-autodesk-stock-right-now/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


Shares of software company Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) dropped after reporting recent quarterly financial results and now sits roughly 16% below its previous high. However, while the market didn't like its quarterly results, Fool contributor Brian Feroldi still loves the long-term prospects for this company. In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Aug. 26, he explains why this a good stock to buy right now.

All right, I'm going to talk about a stock that I own and we did a deep dive on recently and that is Autodesk. The ticker symbol here ADSK. You've probably heard of this company before, they are one of the pioneers in CAD, C-A-D or computer-aided design. Essentially, this is a software company that helps you to make anything. They are primary service in three end markets. Architecture, engineering, and construction professionals, product design and manufacturing professionals, and media and entertainment professionals. They have over 80 different software tools that are all in a huge bundle suite. This company has steadily been building or buying tools to build out its product offering.

What interests me most about this business is that it successfully made the shift from a legacy software model to a software-as-a-service model. Back in 2016, this company really decided to go a whole-hog into a recurring revenue business model. Doing so forced it to give up some revenue in the near term. If you look at 2017-2018, they had reported year-over-year drop in revenue. That's not a pleasant thing for any company to do, let alone on purpose. However, that transition is now fully behind the company, and 96% of revenue today is now recurring and growing at a double-digit rate. Not a high double-digit rate, but a double-digit rate. Given that this company is approaching 40 or 50 years old, it's pretty impressive.

They are still in the midst of a business model transition right now, they are going toward a naming model where instead of selling seats to companies, they sell seats to individual names. They are still working through retiring all of their old legacy software. There are lots of users out there, we'll get into how many that are actively using Autodesk's products, but bought the software so long ago, and it works so well still that they have yet to transition to this software model. Autodesk believes that alone is a huge opportunity for it to continue growing. Again, these are people that are using the software actively but haven't upgraded to the SaaS model. That is what's happening right now.

There are numerous benefits that they're trying to roll out to convince people to make that upgrade. You can work on any device, you can work from any location, you can build in custom workflows, you could share more easily. There is a premium price to doing so, but that is their plan to transition these users over.

If you look at this company's financials, they are really starting to get mouthwatering. Billings is consistently growing, recently grew at a double-digit rate. Revenue grew 11% to almost a billion dollars, that's in the quarter. This company pumped out $316 million in free cash flow on just under $1 billion in sales. That is a very, very strong free-cash-flow conversion margin.

They also do a great job giving out details about where their revenue is coming from. While America is their core market and they've been operating in here for years. It's only about a third of revenue. Europe, Middle East, and Africa are the growth area for them, and they also have a growing presence in Asia Pacific. If you are a believer that the world is going to have to spend on infrastructure and witness the trillion dollar bill that was just passed in the US alone for infrastructure, the demand for software that makes that allows you to do those projects, which is Autodesk's bread and butter, the demand should continue to grow.

They also spread out their revenue across a couple of different sectors. The manufacturing sector, the architecture sector, the media and entertainment, etc. This is a globally diversified and product-diversified business.

As of the most recent quarter, their balance sheet looks good. Not phenomenal, but good. They had about $1 billion in cash, and they made another acquisition. They have about $3.5 billion of goodwill on the balance sheet. Again, this has been an acquisitive company to build out its product offering. Given the size and scale this company has, I normally don't like companies that grow by acquisition. However, it's a part of their strategy. It's not their entire strategy. As far as liabilities go, this company has about $1.7 billion in debt on the books.

But if you look at the most recent query results, the numbers were very appetizing. Subscription revenue, that grew 18%. Again, that maintenance revenue, that's that legacy revenue that is going down on purpose. When you combine those together, total revenue growth was about 12%. But it does show the continued ongoing transition to the Software-as-a-Service business model. Costs were up, but they still had a very strong gross profit margin of 90%. Ninety percent gross profit margin. While other costs did rise, they were able to grow the income from operations at a slightly faster rate.

Moving forward, I think there's a lot of pent-up operating leverage in this business. Again, going from the SaaS transition. They haven't fully realized all the benefits of that. I think the next couple of years is going to show outsize profit growth when compared to revenue growth.

How big is the potential pie here? The company breaks out its total addressable market opportunity in several different ways. From a design and manufacturing, they think these are multibillion dollar markets, and growing. The same thing for the design and maker market, and their media market, which is their smallest segment is a $5 billion market and growing. You add all of those together and they believe that their total addressable market opportunity by 2025 will be about $69 billion. That is a big number, and also, that number is going to continue to grow.

If you look at their current market share in each of their core markets, it's still single digits. On a revenue basis, it's under 10%. That alone is a really [laughs] good reason to be interested in this business. The entire market for their services can grow. I think that they should be able to grow their revenue roughly 10% rate for the next couple of years. Now, if you dig in to their current user base, they have about 5 million paying subscribers, 12 million people are using their software and are noncompliant. That's a friendly way of saying moochers. [laughs] People that have not updated or not paying their fair share.

Their shift to a pay-per-person model from a pay-per-license model, that should convince some of those people to come over. But I really like that about this company. They have the user base installed, it's not if they have to go out and grab new users. They're doing that, too, but these are people that are actively using Autodesk's products. The company is just trying to convince them, slowly nudging them to upgrade. Obviously, how many do in any given year is going to vary, but can the company get a small percentage of them to transition over in any given year? I think that's a pretty low risk, yes.

If you look at this company's longer term growth trajectory, it's calling for high-midteens revenue growth for the next couple of years. A very strong operating cash flow margin and pump out lots and lots of free cash flow.

Quickly into the management team here, CEO Dr. Andrew Anagnost. He is not the founder, but for all intents and purposes, he acts like one. He has been at this business since the 1990s. He wasn't a recent hire, he's been there for more than 25 years. He is also the big manager that was pushing the SaaS transition, he has very high pedigree. They also have a really diverse board and C-suite, I like to see that there. The company itself gets great Glassdoor reviews. Inside ownership, while not high in percentage terms, the CEO does have many, many millions of dollars that are on the line here. This to me is a core stock of mine that I hold and plan on doing so for a long time. I think it's a low-risk double-digit grower. That is Autodesk, ADSK.

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>>> Nano Dimension Has Future Ideas, but Key Catalysts Are Absent Now


Investor Place

Stavros Georgiadis

September 3, 2021


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nano-dimension-future-ideas-key-113037842.html


There is a great rule with investing that says only invest in companies that you know and are confident about their business model. With a couple of thousand U.S public stocks, I admit I have never heard of Nano Dimension (NASDAQ:NNDM) before. And in simple terms, its business operations mean that is it is developing a 3D printing technology for the additive manufacturing of semiconductors. Sounds interesting, but is NNDM stock interesting too?

According to Yahoo Finance, Nano Dimension “provides additive electronics in Israel and internationally. Its flagship product is the proprietary DragonFly lights-out digital manufacturing (LDM) system, a precision system that produces professional multilayer circuit-boards, radio frequency antennas, sensors, conductive geometries, and molded connected devices for prototyping through custom additive manufacturing”

That said, the firm’s profile is clearly riveting and it has a very strong track record. However, what does the future hold for NNDM stock?

Let’s take a closer look.

The Market of Additively Manufactured Electronics (AME)
There is also another important information on what Nano Dimension does for business.

On the official website, we read that the company is “a provider of intelligent machines for the fabrication of Additively Manufactured Electronics (AME).”

Moreover, a report on Additive Manufacturing Market states that significant growth should be expected in the next 5-6 years. In fact, the “Global Additive Manufacturing Market is expected to reach USD 26.68 billion by 2027, growing at a high rate of 14.4%, according to a new report by Reports and Data. Increasing government support to enhance additive manufacturing technology across various regions is a key factor influencing market demand.”

Additionally, let’s consider the bright prospects for Nano Dimension moving forward. This includes “[h]igh fidelity active electronic and electromechanical subassemblies are integral enablers of autonomous intelligent drones, cars, satellites, smartphones, and in vivo medical devices.” That said, technology — especially for cars and smartphones — rapidly evolving as companies compete with each other for market share and dominance or technological innovations.

Overall, though, this is a catalyst for Nano Dimension and NNDM stock.

A Business Plan That Places Importance on Acquisitions

In 2021, Nano Dimension announced two acquisitions to pursue its business goals. The first one was to acquire NanoFabrica Ltd., paying the “shareholders of NanoFabrica a total ranging between $54.9 million to $59.4 million.” About 50% of this would be paid in cash, and the rest in American Depositary Shares (ADS) of Nano Dimension. The second acquisition was DeepCube, “an award-winning deep learning pioneer that provides the industry’s first software-based deep learning acceleration platform that drastically improves performance on existing hardware”.

With all of that in mind, these two acquisitions show a very dynamic company and active management that wants to create value for the shareholders. However, is NNDM stock heading in that direction now? I’m still not sure.

The Art of Raising Cash

Collectively, second-quarter 2021 financial results showed some mixed positive and negative information.

The good news is that total revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2021, were $1.62 million compared to $990,000 during the same period a year ago. This is all good news according to my analysis because research and development (R&D) expenses, S&M expenses and G&A expenses all rose year-over-year (YOY) as well. So if I had to guess what the result would be of these increases in operating expenses, then I would place high odds that based on lower operating income net income would be impacted negatively too.

That being said, the truth is that net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2021, was $22.92 million or $0.10 per share, compared to $10.34 million or $0.55 per share during the same time last year. This is common sense and logic, and by now you should probably know that when I come across a company that is losing money, I am not a big fan — based on its fundamentals and valuation.

But as Nano Dimension reported a huge increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period, I thought that this increase could be well a result of raising cash rather than making cash. Raising cash means issuing stock, making cash means having a profit from sales. In turn, Nano Dimension reported that this cash increase was due to “proceeds received from the sales of American Depositary Shares representing the Company’s ordinary shares in the first half of 2021, less cash used in operations during the six months ended June 30, 2021.”

NNDM Stock Is Too Pricey Based on Key Metrics

In 2016, Nano Dimension reported a negative free cash flow (FCF) of $7.05 million. And while that figure was significantly worse the next three years, the firm still reported negative FCF of $10.85M for 2020. Additionally, two other figures are notable, too. NNDM stock boasts a price-sales ratio (P/S) of 114.98 and an operating margin of -1,050.84%. Both these numbers suggest a very lofty valuation.

As a verdict, I see a dynamic company with interesting technology in a growing market; But that’s it. I see problems such as stock dilution, and a very pricey valuation, plus an unprofitable company. Therefore, I need to pass on NNDM stock right now. I need to see more positive developments and profitability, an increase in sales and positive free cash flows.

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>>> Why 3D Printing Stocks Jumped This Week


3D printing companies continue to make slow and steady improvements to their products, which is helping their stocks today.


Motley Fool

Travis Hoium

Sep 3, 2021


https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/09/03/why-3d-printing-stocks-jumped-this-week/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


Key Points

3D Systems is adding two new metals to its portfolio.

Nano Dimensions is unveiling a new system this month.

It didn't hurt that investors are betting the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low for a while longer.


What happened

3D printing stocks had a good week this week, some climbing double digits. There was some news about continued improvement in materials and potential tailwinds from low interest rates, and the market took an optimistic view of an industry it didn't like just a few weeks ago. After all, this week's gains followed a double-digit drop in some 3D printing stocks just a few weeks ago, so volatility is the name of the game in this industry.

Leading the way were shares of Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS), which were up 11.7% from the close of the market Friday to the close of the market Thursday night, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) was up 8.2%, and Nano Dimension (NASDAQ:NNDM) was up 6.4%, over the same period.

So what

Company-specific news was meaningful even if it wasn't a game changer for anyone in the long term. 3D Systems announced that two new materials are now available in its metals portfolio. Scalmalloy is a high-strength aluminum alloy intended for aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor markets. M789 is a metal used for making molds, drill bits, and even drive train parts. 3D printing companies are continually adding materials to their portfolios, but these are a sign of just how far the industry is pushing into metal products.

Nano Dimension also announced it will show its Fabrica 2.0 Micro Additive Manufacturing System, or Fabrica 2.0, at the RAPID + TCT event in Chicago from Sept. 13 through 15. This product is for micron-level-resolution production of parts for medical devices, semiconductors, and other small electronics.

There was also some economic news released this week that could help 3D printing companies in the long term. The U.S. economy is still growing coming out of the pandemic, but jobs are not coming back as quickly as central bankers may have hoped. Consumer confidence fell to a six-month low in August as worries about COVID-19 and inflation weighed on consumers. And companies didn't hire as quickly as hoped, adding just 235,000 jobs in August, short of the 720,000 that economists had projected.

How can bad labor and confidence data be good for 3D printing? The simple answer is that investors are betting that a slow economic recovery will mean the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low for longer. Lower rates make it less expensive to borrow money for growth, which could include buying new equipment like 3D printers. This may be speculation, but in the short term, that's what's driving 3D printing stocks higher in the absence of more substantial news.

Now what

3D printing technology continues to improve and find new applications in the market. But that hasn't translated to higher profitability for companies or higher stock prices, leaving investors wondering what's next. And that's why investors can sometimes grab small pieces of information like a new material or low interest rates as a catalyst for future growth.

What I am looking for is the technology advances translating into more growth and better margins overall for 3D printing stocks. Until we see that, this is an industry I'll watch from the sidelines. But if 3D printing finds a path to growth, these beaten-down stocks could be growth stocks once again.

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Nano Dimension Ltd - >>> 10 Best Cheap Tech Stocks to Buy According to Cathie Wood


Insider Monkey

May 26, 2021

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-best-cheap-tech-stocks-145316098.html


Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 11

Nano Dimension Ltd. (NASDAQ: NNDM) is an Israel-based 3D printing company founded in 2012. It is placed ninth on our list of 10 best cheap tech stocks to buy according to Cathie Wood. The company stock has returned more than 150% to investors over the course of the past twelve months. ARK Investment holds close to 13 million shares in the company worth over $111 million. This represents 0.22% of their portfolio. Nano Dimension primarily focuses on research and development related to 3D printed electronics.

In earnings results for the first three months of 2021, posted on May 20, Nano Dimension Ltd. (NASDAQ: NNDM) reported earnings per share of -$0.05 and a revenue of $0.8 million. The revenue was up over 15% compared to the same period last year.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, New York-based investment firm Renaissance Technologies is a leading shareholder in Nano Dimension Ltd. (NASDAQ: NNDM) with 6.6 million shares worth more than $57 million.

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>>> Top 3D Printing Stocks for Q3 2021


SSYS, NNDM, and DDD are top for value, growth, and momentum, respectively


Investopedia

By MATTHEW JOHNSTON

Jun 8, 2021


https://www.investopedia.com/3d-printing-stocks-5080787


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. While still too slow to be used in 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, such as Proto Labs Inc. (PRLB) and Faro Technologies Inc. (FARO).

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. The 3 best performing 3D printing stocks have dramatically outperformed the Russell 1000, which has provided a total return of 38.3% over the past 12 months, as of June 3, 2021.1 All statistics in the tables below are as of June 3.

Here are the top three 3D printing stocks with the best value, fastest sales growth, and the most momentum.

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

Stratasys Ltd. ( SSYS) 23.11 1.5 2.5

Proto Labs Inc. (PRLB) 88.08 2.4 5.5

3D Systems Corp. ( DDD) 30.24 3.8 6.4


Stratasys Ltd.: Stratasys makes 3D printers used in the process of designing and manufacturing various products. Its products and services are used in industries including aerospace, automotive, and consumer electronics, as well as education and dentistry.

Proto Labs Inc.: Proto Labs provides rapid low-volume manufacturing of custom parts for prototyping and short-run production. It offers 3D printing, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding services. The company announced in early May financial results for Q1 of its 2021 fiscal year (FY), which ended March 31, 2021. Net income fell 73.5% even though revenue rose only 0.9% compared to the year-ago quarter. Costs and expenses rose at a faster pace than revenue, which weighed on net income.2

3D Systems Corp.: 3D Systems is a holding company that provides 3D printing solutions, including 3D printers, print materials, software, on-demand manufacturing services, and digital design tools. Its solutions are used in healthcare, aerospace, automotive, and other industries. The company announced in early June that it has agreed to sell its on-demand manufacturing business to Trilantic North America for $82 million. 3D Systems intends to invest the proceeds in its core additive manufacturing business.3

Fastest Growing 3D Printing Stocks

These are the 3D printing stocks with the highest year-over-year (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, earnings per share can be significantly influenced by accounting factors that may not reflect the overall strength of the business. 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


Nano Dimension Ltd. ( NNDM) 7.27 1.9 15.5

3D Systems Corp. (DDD) 30.24 3.8 7.7

Materialise NV ( MTLS) 27.23 1.5 7.6


Nano Dimension Ltd.: Nano Dimension is an Israel-based 3D printing company focused on developing 3D printed electronics. It develops printers for multilayer printed circuit boards and nanotechnology based inks. The company serves a range of markets, including consumer electronics, healthcare, aerospace, automotive, and more. Nano Dimension announced in late April that it has signed and closed an agreement to acquire NanoFabrica Ltd. for between $54.9 million and $59.4 million. NanoFabrica provides technology and turn-key systems for precise 3D-micro-printing.4

3D Systems Corp.: See above for company description.

Materialise NV: Materialise is a Belgium-based rapid prototype designer and manufacturer. It develops products using 3D imaging software combined with plastic molding. The company offers solutions to the industrial, medical, aerospace, automotive, and dental industries.

3D Printing Stocks with the Most Momentum

These are the 3D printing stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

3D Printing Stocks with the Most Momentum

3D Systems Corp. (DDD) 30.24 3.8 272.4

Nano Dimension Ltd. (NNDM) 7.27 1.9 164.4

The ExOne Co. ( XONE) 21.89 0.5 128.5


3D Systems Corp.: See above for company description.

Nano Dimension Ltd.: See above for company description.

The ExOne Co.: ExOne is a global provider of 3D printing machines and printed products. The company manufactures 3D printing machines and printing products to specification for its customers. It also supplies associated materials, such as consumables and replacement parts, and other services. ExOne announced in mid-May financial results for Q1 FY 2021, which ended March 31, 2021. The company's net loss widened to $6.1 million from $3.6 million in the year-ago quarter as revenue fell 2.7%. ExOne said it saw signs of an economic rebound despite challenges in the current operating environment stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.5

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NanoDimension - >>> Have $3,000? Buying These 2 Stocks Would Be the Smartest Move You Ever Made

Both companies are using nanotechnology to revolutionize healthcare and manufacturing. Plus, they have considerable upside.


Motley Fool

by Taylor Carmichael

Jan 31, 2021


https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/01/31/have-3000-buying-these-3-stocks-would-be-the-smart/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


You don't need to invest a lot of money to have amazing returns in the stock market. If you invested $3,000 in Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) 20 years ago, you could have bought 300 shares. At a Jan. 29 price of $3,203 per share, your $3,000 investment would now be worth $960,900. To pull off an investment like that, you had to be willing to take risks (Amazon was unprofitable in its early years), practice patience, and let the growth story play out.

Are there any stocks in 2021 with Amazon-sized futures? Yes, there are. A few that come to mind are small companies using nanotechnology to disrupt the healthcare and manufacturing industries. Nano-X (NASDAQ:NNOX) has a device that could make X-rays a lot cheaper and more accesible. And Nano Dimension (NASDAQ:NNDM) uses nanotechnology (and 3-D printing) to revolutionize the way companies manufacture electronic circuit boards. Read more to find out why these stocks might be wonderful for patient, risk-tolerant investors.


1. Smaller is better for Nano-X

Nanotechnology led to the breakthrough.

The problem with high-end X-ray machines like those using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized axial tomography (CAT) is that the machines are massive and cost hospitals over $1 million, and in some cases as much as $3 million. These high-end medical X-ray systems have to generate a tremendous amount of heat for the X-ray to happen -- up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,600 degrees Fahrenheit). Using micro-electrical-mechanical-systems (MEMS), Nano-X was able to fabricate millions of nanoscale gates on a silicon chip. Each one of these microscopic "nano-spindts" digitally creates and controls the electrons that power an X-ray device.

The result is that we no longer need to generate heat for an X-ray to work. Instead of having to power up to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit -- and then cool down -- the Nano-X device stays at room temperature. Thus the company was able to build a much smaller, and cheaper, X-ray machine. And yes, the engineers who designed the sleek machine were inspired by Star Trek.

Nano-X says the device -- once it's cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- will cost about $10,000 to manufacture. But what's exciting the market is not how cheap the device is, or even how popular it might be. What's truly getting investors jazzed is that Nano-X will take a small percentage of the fee every time its X-ray device is used. That's the classic razor-and-blades pricing model that helped make Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) investors rich. Nano-X can actually give its machine away, because it's making money on the use of the device, not on the original sale.

Will the device work as well as the MRI and CAT scans common in hospitals today? Skeptics abound. The company has no profits (or even revenues) yet. Shorts and other traders have made Nano-X's stock price incredibly volatile. But early investors who took the plunge upon its IPO in August are doing quite well so far.


2. Using Nanotech to transform 3D printing

3D printing has been around for decades. It's now become fairly commonplace in many industries. For instance, SmileDirectClub (NASDAQ:SDC) uses 3D printers to create aligners for your teeth. Nonetheless, this revolution in manufacturing is just beginning. And Nano Dimension might just be the most important company in 3D manufacturing today.

Nano Dimension uses nanoparticles to transform the inks used in 3D printing. Its Dragonfly device allows designers and engineers to print functional circuit boards and other electronic devices.

This is huge, for any number of reasons. Research and design labs can keep their intellectual property secret, because they can manufacture in-house cheaply, quickly, and easily. But 3D printing has an added benefit -- you can print devices with parts that are so tiny, they were impossible to manufacture before. As the company puts it on its website, designers can "pack more functionality in smaller footprints."

Nano Dimension has customers in aerospace and defense industries, but also in healthcare. Medical device companies can now 3D print noninvasive sensors and micro devices.

The most enticing thing about Nano Dimension for investors is its business model. The company has sold only 60 devices so far. But, as with Nano-X and Intuitive Surgical, the real money will be made in service revenues. Nano Dimension will make its money by supplying the miraculous inks that allow these systems to work. The more companies use its device to print circuit boards, the more money Nano Dimension will make.

This recurring revenue model is a wonderful business to invest in. While these small and unprofitable companies are certainly risky -- and highly volatile in the short term -- patient investors with a long-term outlook can easily make a fortune if either company pulls it off. That's the key to investing in early-stage companies -- don't put all your eggs in one basket. And hold on to your shares to see how it all unfolds. Patient investors who understand the risks might just see some amazing returns down the road.

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>>> Materialise NV (MTLS) provides additive manufacturing and medical software, and 3D printing services in Europe, the Americas, Europe and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's Materialise Software segment offers software through programs and platforms that enable and enhance the functionality of 3D printers and of 3D printing operations. Its software interfaces between various types of 3D printers; and various software applications and capturing technologies, including computer-aided design packages and 3D scanners. This segment serves 3D printing machine original equipment manufacturers; manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, and hearing aid industries; and 3D printing service bureaus through its sales force, Website, and third-party distributors. Its Materialise Medical segment provides medical software that allows medical-image based analysis and engineering, as well as patient-specific design of surgical devices and implants. It serves medical device companies, hospitals, universities, and industrial companies through its direct sales force, Website, and picture archiving and communication system partners. The company's Materialise Manufacturing segment provides 3D printing services, design and engineering services, and rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing of production parts to industrial and commercial customers. It has collaboration agreements with Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.; Encore Medical, L.P.; DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson; Global Orthopaedic Technology Pty Ltd; Limacorporate Spa; Mathys AG; Howmedica Osteonics Corp.; Corin Ltd.; and Fluidda, as well as a partnership with Sigma Labs, Inc. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.

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>>> Investors are still embracing 3-D printing despite some big IPO misfires


MarketWatch

June 26, 2019

By Jon Swartz


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-d-printer-unicorn-carbon-lands-260-million-in-funding-despite-ipo-misfires-2019-06-25?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts


Venture capitalists have invested a record $650 million in 3-D Printers so far this year, as shares have plummeted

Carbon CEO Joe DeSimone just announced his company raised over $260 million in funding, giving it a valuation of $2.4 billion. In all, it has raised $680 million.

Investors can’t get enough of 3-D printing companies even though some of the sector’s biggest names are bleeding red ink.

Three-dimensional printing unicorn Carbon, a frequently mentioned IPO candidate, on Tuesday announced a new funding round of over $260 million, hiking its overall total to $680 million and giving it a valuation of $2.4 billion.

Madrone Capital Partners and investment management firm Baillie Gifford co-led the round, Carbon’s fifth since it was founded in 2013 and launched in 2015.

The hefty cash infusion highlights the thirst for 3-D printing companies despite a batch of discomfiting IPOs. Venture capitalists have invested at a record pace ($650 million) so far this year while shares have plummeted the past 12 months at Nano Dimension Ltd. ADR NNDM, -0.76% down 80%; Organovo Holdings Inc. ONVO, -0.43%, down 71%; SLM Solutions Group AG AM3D, -1.81%, down 68%; and at 3D Systems Corp. DDD, +1.88%, which is off 38%. There are some strong performers over the last year at Materialise N.V. ADR MTLS, -1.86%, up 27%; FARO Technologies Inc. FARO, +2.64%, 22%, and Stratasys Ltd. SSYS, +0.57%, up 15%.

Those numbers underscore the realities of at least 38 companies vying for a slice of a slowly evolving multibillion market. It takes time for manufacturers to “rethink and change the fundamental design of their products” through 3-D printing, says Forrester analyst Carl Doty.

HP Inc. HPQ, +5.70%, the biggest name in industrial 3-D printing, just opened a 150,000-square-foot facility in Barcelona, the largest 3-D printing and digital manufacturing R&D center in the world. It recently expanded its partnership with SmileDirectClub to 3D print more than 50,000 mouth molds per day -- nearly 20 million in the next year. HP does not break out revenue for 3-D printing, which is part of its $21 billion printer division.

As for the weak performance of many publicly traded 3-D printer companies, investors are hardly fazed. To date, $3 billion has been invested into 3-D technology, Doty says.

Investors such as Jim Goetz, a partner at Sequoia Capital, are willing to ply money into Carbon because of what they call its hybrid business approach. “Carbon has pioneered a business model in a market that hasn’t changed in decades,” Goetz told MarketWatch. “Most major hardware makers offer a one-time purchase of equipment that depreciates over the life of the product, with annual licensing fees.”

Carbon has lined up customers such as Ford Motor Co. F, +11.72%, Adidas AG (DE: ADS), and dental labs, who sign 3-, 5-, and 7-year subscription deals to use either a high-end printer that carries a $200,000 annual subscription fee, or a basic printer, at $70,000 a year.

“We have a sound, predictable business model,” Carbon co-founder and CEO Joe DeSimone told MarketWatch. The multiyear deals around allows Carbon to “lock in” 70% of revenue on Jan. 1, he added.

The Silicon Valley company has focused on three markets: foam replacements for Adidas ADS, +4.19% shoes and Riddell football helmets; creating crowns, bridges, and dentures for dental labs; and new markets in automotive. (In February, Carbon announced a partnership with Riddell to produce the first-ever digitally printed helmet liner. In January, Ford announced the first digitally manufactured polymer parts on production vehicles for the F-150, and Ford Mustang, and replacement parts for the Ford Focus.)

Carbon plans to use its new round of capital to expand research and development efforts, and fuel growth in Europe and Asia.

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>>> Nano Dimension Ltd. (NNDM), together with its subsidiaries, provides additive electronics in Israel and internationally. Its flagship product is the proprietary DragonFly lights-out digital manufacturing system, a precision system that produces professional multilayer circuit-boards, radio frequency antennas, sensors, conductive geometries, and molded connected devices for prototyping through custom additive manufacturing. The company also provides nanotechnology based conductive and dielectric inks; and DragonFly and Switch software to manage the design file and printing process. It markets and sells products and services to companies that develop products with electronic components, including companies in the defense, automotive, consumer electronics, semiconductor, aerospace, and medical industries, as well as research institutes. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Ness Ziona, Israel.

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>>> Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) operates as a design software and services company worldwide. The company offers AutoCAD, a professional design, drafting, detailing, and visualization software; AutoCAD Civil 3D, a surveying, design, analysis, and documentation solution for civil engineering, including land development, transportation, and environmental projects; AutoCAD LT, a professional drafting and detailing software; BIM 360, a construction management cloud-based software; computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software for computer numeric control machining, inspection, and modelling for manufacturing; Fusion 360, a 3D CAD, CAM, and computer-aided engineering tool; and Industry Collections software products for professionals in architecture, engineering and construction, product design and manufacturing, and media and entertainment industries. It also provides Inventor tools for 3D mechanical design, simulation, analysis, tooling, visualization, and documentation; Maya and 3ds Max software products that offer 3D modeling, animation, effects, rendering, and compositing solutions; and PlanGrid, a cloud-based field collaboration software, which provides general contractors, subcontractors, owners, and architects access to construction information in real-time. In addition, the company offers Revit software for building information modeling; and Shotgun, a cloud-based software for review and production tracking in the media and entertainment industry. Autodesk, Inc. sells its products and services to customers directly, as well as through distributors and resellers. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

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>>> The 3D Printing ETF Can Make A Comeback


By ETF Professor

Aug 20, 2019


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-3d-printing-etf-can-make-a-comeback-2019-08-20-1046306?mod=investing


A few years ago, 3D printing stocks were all the rage, but that intensity has since waned in a big way as investors looking for growth opportunities have headed to other industries. As a result, The 3D Printing ETF (cboe:PRNT) is lower by 19.33% over the past year.

The lack of attention being paid to PRNT and its components these days belies long-term opportunity in the 3D printing space.

“Greater adoption of 3D printing technology will likely usher in major changes over time for certain industries, with implications for companies' profitability and market shares,” said Moody's Investors Service in a recent note. “These developments will likely take many years to come about, however. While corporate investments in commercial and industrial 3D printing are increasing rapidly across many sectors, the technology remains a small part of global manufacturing for now.”

ARK Investment Management is mostly known for its suite of often high-flying actively managed ETFs, but PRNT is one of several passive, index funds offered by the issuer.

PRNT, which turned three years old last month, tracks the Total 3D-Printing Index. That index employs a multi-factor weighting methodology in a broad-based approach to five 3D sub-industries – hardware, software, printing centers, scanning and printing materials.

“Companies developing and selling 3D printing hardware, services and materials will likely benefit,” said Moody's. “If adoption of 3D printing within commercial manufacturing grows rapidly, it will be credit positive for the industry segment that makes the printers and related software, and offers services to operate the technology. Chemicals and metals companies investing in materials development for 3D printing manufacturing will also be well positioned as the market continues to grow.”

At the end of the second quarter, PRNT held 54 stocks, 80% of which were hardware and software names.

3D printing still represents a scant percentage of global industrial manufacturing, but there are niches where the technology is taking off and could prove disruptive in the years ahead.

“In select industries, the technology will help boost companies' profitability and market shares,” according to Moody's. “Consumer goods manufacturers such as eyewear and footwear are among the industries with the strongest near-term growth prospects for adoption of 3D printing. Other industries that will benefit include aerospace, medical devices, automotive and capital equipment, to varying degrees.”

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>>> The Best 3D Printing ETF

Interested in 3D printing stocks? You might consider investing in the 3D Printing ETF.

6-22-17

Motley Fool

Beth McKenna


https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/22/the-best-3d-printing-etf.aspx


3D printing stocks are having a great 2017, after several very tough years. The stocks of the two largest players, 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) and Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS), for example, have gained 66.3% and 66.6%, respectively, this year through June 19, versus the S&P 500's 10.7% return.

Investors who are interested in 3D printing stocks but don't want to bet on just one player or even a couple of companies, have another option: a 3D-printing exchange-traded fund (ETF). We're going to explore the best (and only, to my knowledge) ETF focused on this space, The 3D Printing ETF (NYSEMKT:PRNT), to see if it's worth investing in.

The 3D Printing ETF, issued by Ark Investment Management, is an index-based fund designed to track the Total 3D-Printing Index. This index is composed of stocks of companies based in the United States and other developed markets that are engaged in 3D printing-related businesses, specifically, 3D-printing hardware, computer-aided design software and 3D-printing simulation software, 3D-printing service centers, scanning and measurement equipment, and 3D-printing materials.

The ETF, which is rebalanced quarterly, has 42 holdings. The weighted-average market cap of the portfolio is $30 billion, while the median market cap is $3 billion. The fund's expense ratio is 0.66%, which is fairly reasonable.

The 3D Printing ETF: Top 10 holdings
Holding No.

Company

Ticker

Market Cap

Country

Weight (% of Portfolio)

1

3D Systems

DDD

$2.5 billion
U.S.

7.08%
2

ExOne

NASDAQ: XONE $209.4 million
U.S.

6.59%
3

MGI Digital Graphic Technology*

ALMDG*

$300 million
France

6.39%
4

Stratasys

SSYS

$1.5 billion
Israel/U.S.

5.60%
5

SLM Solutions**

AM3D**

$700.1 million
Germany

5.36%
6

K2M Group Holdings

NASDAQ: KTWO

$991.1 million
U.S.

5.35%
7

Organovo Holdings

NASDAQ: ONVO

$276.1 million U.S. 4.77%
8

HP Inc.

NYSE: HPQ

$29.9 billion U.S. 4.46%
9

Autodesk

NASDAQ: ADSK

$23.2 billion U.S. 3.93%
10

Trimble

NASDAQ: TRMB

$9.5 billion
U.S.

3.91%

Investors should be clear that this ETF is not a pure play on 3D printing. I've read such a claim on several financial outlets, and it just isn't so. A quick glance at the top 10 holdings should make this obvious: No. 8, HP Inc., for example, is a well-known huge player in 2D printing, with 3D printing no doubt comprising a minuscule part of its business, as it entered the market just last year.

Of the top 10 holdings, only three are 3D printing pure plays, in my opinion: 3D Systems, ExOne, and Stratasys.

3D Systems and Stratasys, the industry's two largest players, are quite diversified. Both make 3D printers for commercial and industrial markets and provide on-demand 3D-printing services. Stratasys also produces desktop 3D printers for the education and professional markets. ExOne makes heavy-duty industrial 3D printers that primarily print in sands (to make molds) and metals; it also provides 3D-printing services. SLM Solutions makes metal 3D printers powered by its selective laser melting technology and vacuum casting equipment.

MGI Digital Graphic Technology specializes in digital 2D-printing and finishing equipment. Apparently, it's included in the ETF because one MGI Group subsidiary, Ceradrop, manufactures equipment for the 3D-printed-electronics market.

K2M and Organovo are involved in the medical space. K2M is a medical-device company that uses 3D printing to produce some of its spine products. Organovo uses its proprietary 3D printing tech to "3D bioprint" human tissues for pharmaceutical testing, though its ultimate goal is to bioprint organs for people in need of transplants.

HP, as I mentioned, entered the 3D-printing market last year, with the launch of two enterprise-focused 3D printers. Autodesk makes design software for 3D printing and other uses, and has several 3D-printing initiatives. Trimble, a company traditionally focused on GPS, owns SketchUp, an extremely popular 3D modeling and design platform. It also partners with Belgian 3D-printing company Materialise on initiatives to streamline 3D-printing workflows. (Materialise -- a 3D-printing pure play that makes 3D-printing software and provides 3D-printing services -- is conspicuously missing from the ETF.)

Takeaway

An ideal 3D-printing ETF, in my opinion, would be more heavily weighted toward 3D-printing pure plays. That said, The 3D Printing ETF does a decent job representing the quite expansive 3D-printing realm. It seems a solid option for investors who want broad exposure to 3D printing -- a technology that is widely expected to revolutionize the manufacturing sector. As previously mentioned, the ETF's expense ratio is 0.66%, which is fairly reasonable.

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>>> Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Buildings and Infrastructure, Geospatial, Resources and Utilities, and Transportation. The Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for route selection and design; systems to guide and control construction equipment; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; integrated site layout and measurement systems; applications for sub-contractors and trades; and integrated workplace management services software. This segment serves architects, engineers, contractors, owners, and operators. The Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products and services to the construction, engineering, mining, oil and gas, energy and utilities, government, and land management sectors; and geographic information systems. The Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services that consist of guidance and positioning systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions primarily to customers working in agriculture, forestry, and utilities. The Transportation segment offers a suite of solutions under the Trimble, PeopleNet, GEOTrac, TMW, ISE, Punch, Veltec, and Trimble MAPS brands to customers working in long haul trucking, field service management, rail, and military aviation. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

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>>> Researchers develop 3D printed objects that can track their own use
They could be used to monitor devices like smart pill bottles or prosthetics.


Oct 2018

Engadget

Mallory Locklear / Gadgetry


https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/10/3d-printed-objects-collect-data-on-use/


Researchers at the University of Washington have been developing a way for 3D-printed plastic objects to transmit data without the need for embedded batteries or electronics. Last year, they showed how their devices can take measurements of wind speed and liquid flow, and then transmit that information through an antenna that reflects ambient WiFi signals. Now, they're taking their work a step further, bringing the technique to assistive technology.

While 3D printing can be used to create devices like prosthetics or smart pill bottles that can remind patients to take their medicine, this method doesn't easily allow for the ability to monitor how patients use those devices. "We're interested in making accessible assistive technology with 3D printing, but we have no easy way to know how people are using it," Jennifer Mankoff, a professor with the university's School of Computer Science & Engineering and a researcher on the project, said in a statement. "Could we come up with a circuitless solution that could be printed on consumer-grade, off-the-shelf printers and allow the device itself to collect information?" Turns out, they could.

The team noted that in order to convert these 3D printed objects into smart devices, they needed the ability to monitor complex actions and store data. Previously, their devices were able to track movement in one direction, like measuring how much liquid is poured out of a detergent bottle, for example. But that wouldn't be enough when you're trying to determine whether a pill bottle has been opened and closed. So this time, they incorporated two antennas into their objects, which can signal movement in two directions -- a method that can be applied to both smart pill bottles as well as prosthetics. You can see it put into action in the video above.

As for storing information, the team used the example of an insulin pen. "You can still take insulin even if you don't have a WiFi connection," said Shyam Gollakota, another scientist involved with the work. "So we needed a mechanism that stores how many times you used it. Once you're back in the range, you can upload that stored data into the cloud." For this, they put a spring inside of a ratchet, and every time a button is pushed, that spring gets tighter. When the user is back in the range of WiFi, they can release the ratchet and the spring will unwind, triggering a switch to touch an embedded antenna. Each button press will then be translated into an antenna contact, allowing frequency of use data to be transmitted.

Next, the team plans to make these prototype devices smaller, so that they can be embedded into actual pill bottles, prosthetics and insulin pens. The researchers will present their work later this month at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.

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>>> Rutgers Engineers 3D Print Shape-Shifting Smart Gel


3D printing becomes 4D as objects morph over time and temperatures change


By Todd B. Bates, Patch Contributor

Jan 31, 2018



https://patch.com/new-jersey/newbrunswick/rutgers-engineers-3d-print-shape-shifting-smart-gel



Rutgers Engineers 3D Print Shape-Shifting Smart Gel

Rutgers engineers have invented a "4D printing" method for a smart gel that could lead to the development of "living" structures in human organs and tissues, soft robots and targeted drug delivery.

The 4D printing approach here involves printing a 3D object with a hydrogel (water-containing gel) that changes shape over time when temperatures change, said Howon Lee, senior author of a new study and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

The study, published online today in Scientific Reports, demonstrates fast, scalable, high-resolution 3D printing of hydrogels, which remain solid and retain their shape despite containing water. Hydrogels are everywhere in our lives, including in Jell-O, contact lenses, diapers and the human body.

The smart gel could provide structural rigidity in organs such as the lungs and can contain small molecules like water or drugs to be transported in the body and released. It could also create a new area of soft robotics and enable new applications in flexible sensors and actuators, biomedical devices and platforms or scaffolds for cells to grow, Lee said.

"The full potential of this smart hydrogel has not been unleashed until now," said Lee, who works in the School of Engineering. "We added another dimension to it, and this is the first time anybody has done it on this scale. They're flexible, shape-morphing materials. I like to call them smart materials."

Engineers at Rutgers–New Brunswick and the New Jersey Institute of Technology worked with a hydrogel that has been used for decades in devices that generate motion and biomedical applications such as scaffolds for cells to grow on. But hydrogel manufacturing has relied heavily on conventional, two-dimensional methods such as molding and lithography.

In their study, the engineers used a lithography-based technique that's fast, inexpensive and can print a wide range of materials into a 3D shape. It involves printing layers of a special resin to build a 3D object. The resin consists of the hydrogel, a chemical that acts as a binder, another chemical that facilitates bonding when light hits it and a dye that controls light penetration.

The engineers learned how to precisely control hydrogel growth and shrinkage. In temperatures below 32 degrees Celsius (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit), the hydrogel absorbs more water and swells in size. When temperatures exceed 32 degrees Celsius, the hydrogel begins to expel water and shrinks. The objects they can create with the hydrogel range from the width of a human hair to several millimeters long. The engineers also found that they can grow one area of a 3D-printed object – creating and programming motion – by changing temperatures.

"If you have full control of the shape, then you can program its function," Lee said. "I think that's the power of 3D printing of shape-shifting material. You can apply this principle almost everywhere."

The study's lead author is Daehoon Han, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers–New Brunswick. Co-authors include Zhaocheng Lu, another doctoral student, and Shawn A. Chester, an assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

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>>> Trimble Inc., formerly Trimble Navigation Limited, is engaged in providing technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to transform their work processes. The Company’s solutions are used across a range of industries, including agriculture, architecture, civil engineering, survey and land administration, construction, geospatial, government, natural resources, transportation and utilities. The Company's business segments include Building and Infrastructure, Geospatial, Resource and utilities and Transportation. The Buildings and Infrastructure segment serves customers working in architecture, engineering, construction and operations and maintenance. The Geospatial segment primarily serves customers working in surveying, engineering, government and land management. The Resources and Utilities segment serves customers working in agriculture, forestry, and utilities. The Transportation segment serves customers working in transportation. <<<

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>>> Autodesk, Inc. is a design software and services company, offering customers productive business solutions through technology products and services. The Company's segments include Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), Platform Solutions and Emerging Business (PSEB), Manufacturing (MFG), and Media and Entertainment (M&E). The Company serves customers in the architecture, engineering and construction; product design and manufacturing; and digital media and entertainment industries. The Company's product development and manufacturing software provides manufacturers in automotive, transportation, industrial machinery, consumer products and building products with digital engineering solutions. The Company's product offerings include, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Industry Collections, 3ds Max, Maya, Revit, Inventor, AutoCAD Civil three dimensional (3D), CAM Solutions, Fusion 360, BIM 360 and Shotgun. <<<

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>>> K2M Group Holdings, Inc. is a medical device company focused on designing, developing and commercializing spine and minimally invasive technologies and techniques. The Company's solutions are focused on achieving three-dimensional Total Body Balance. Its spine products are used by spine surgeons to treat spinal pathologies, such as deformity (primarily scoliosis), trauma and tumor. Its products consist of implants, disposables and instruments, which are marketed and sold primarily to hospitals for use by spine surgeons. As of December 31, 2016, its product portfolio consisted of 83 product lines that are used in complex spine, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and degenerative surgeries. Its technologies include EVEREST, MESA, Rail 4D, Quicket Deformity, CASCADIA, CAPRI, SERENGETI, RAVINE and tifix. Its degenerative spine technologies are used to treat degenerative spine disorders and include products, such as cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal fusion devices and interbody devices. <<<

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>>> SLM Solutions Group AG is a Germany-based company active in the field of industrial design and rapid manufacturing. It is engaged in the development, production and distribution of selective laser melting systems (SLM), which create three-dimensional (3D) objects from metal powders. The system selectively melts layers of metal powders with a laser beam, based on computer aided design (CAD) data. Its offering includes SLM 125, SLM 280, SLM 500, and automatic powder sieving station PSA 500, among others. The Company also serves customers in the fields of vacuum and metal casting. Its technology can be applied in automotive, education, aerospace and medical industries. <<<

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>>> Mgi Digital Technology SA, formerly MGI France SA, is a France-based company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of digital printers and related products. The Company offers a digital direct-to-print technology that provides four-color process printing variable data, personalization, bar codes, personal identification numbers (PINs), magnetic stripes, photos and auto numbering. The Company’s portfolio of products includes MeteorDP8700XL, plastic card die cutting, JET cards, JETvarnish, UVarnish, Punchcard Pro, Presscard Pro and EnvelopExpress, among others. The Company’s clients belong to commercial printing, silk screeners, plastic cards printers, newspaper and book printers, graphic art professionals and government sectors. In September 2013, Mgi Digital Technology SA announced that it has acquired a 100% stake in CERADROP, a company specialized in the design and commercialization of professional ink jet printing equipment for printed electronics. <<<

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>>> The Best 3D Printing ETF


Interested in 3D printing stocks? You might consider investing in the 3D Printing ETF.


Beth McKenna

Jun 22, 2017


https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/22/the-best-3d-printing-etf.aspx


3D printing stocks are having a great 2017, after several very tough years. The stocks of the two largest players, 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) and Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS), for example, have gained 66.3% and 66.6%, respectively, this year through June 19, versus the S&P 500's 10.7% return.

Investors who are interested in 3D printing stocks but don't want to bet on just one player or even a couple of companies, have another option: a 3D-printing exchange-traded fund (ETF). We're going to explore the best (and only, to my knowledge) ETF focused on this space, The 3D Printing ETF (NYSEMKT:PRNT), to see if it's worth investing in.

Shown are the performances of the 3D Printing ETF and the three pure-play 3D printing stocks among the ETF's top 10 holdings. Data by YCharts.

The 3D Printing ETF: The basics

The 3D Printing ETF, issued by Ark Investment Management, is an index-based fund designed to track the Total 3D-Printing Index. This index is composed of stocks of companies based in the United States and other developed markets that are engaged in 3D printing-related businesses, specifically, 3D-printing hardware, computer-aided design software and 3D-printing simulation software, 3D-printing service centers, scanning and measurement equipment, and 3D-printing materials.

The ETF, which is rebalanced quarterly, has 42 holdings. The weighted-average market cap of the portfolio is $30 billion, while the median market cap is $3 billion. The fund's expense ratio is 0.66%, which is fairly reasonable.

The 3D Printing ETF: Top 10 holdings -

1

3D Systems

DDD
$2.5 billion
U.S.
7.08%

2

ExOne
NASDAQ: XONE $209.4 million
U.S.
6.59%

3

MGI Digital Graphic Technology*

ALMDG*
$300 million
France
6.39%

4

Stratasys

SSYS
$1.5 billion
Israel/U.S.
5.60%

5

SLM Solutions**

AM3D**
$700.1 million
Germany
5.36%

6

K2M Group Holdings

NASDAQ: KTWO
$991.1 million
U.S.
5.35%

7

Organovo Holdings

NASDAQ: ONVO
$276.1 million U.S. 4.77%

8

HP Inc.

NYSE: HPQ
$29.9 billion U.S. 4.46%

9

Autodesk

NASDAQ: ADSK
$23.2 billion U.S. 3.93%

10

Trimble

NASDAQ: TRMB
$9.5 billion
U.S.
3.91%


Investors should be clear that this ETF is not a pure play on 3D printing. I've read such a claim on several financial outlets, and it just isn't so. A quick glance at the top 10 holdings should make this obvious: No. 8, HP Inc., for example, is a well-known huge player in 2D printing, with 3D printing no doubt comprising a minuscule part of its business, as it entered the market just last year.

Of the top 10 holdings, only three are 3D printing pure plays, in my opinion: 3D Systems, ExOne, and Stratasys.

3D Systems and Stratasys, the industry's two largest players, are quite diversified. Both make 3D printers for commercial and industrial markets and provide on-demand 3D-printing services. Stratasys also produces desktop 3D printers for the education and professional markets. ExOne makes heavy-duty industrial 3D printers that primarily print in sands (to make molds) and metals; it also provides 3D-printing services. SLM Solutions makes metal 3D printers powered by its selective laser melting technology and vacuum casting equipment.

MGI Digital Graphic Technology specializes in digital 2D-printing and finishing equipment. Apparently, it's included in the ETF because one MGI Group subsidiary, Ceradrop, manufactures equipment for the 3D-printed-electronics market.

K2M and Organovo are involved in the medical space. K2M is a medical-device company that uses 3D printing to produce some of its spine products. Organovo uses its proprietary 3D printing tech to "3D bioprint" human tissues for pharmaceutical testing, though its ultimate goal is to bioprint organs for people in need of transplants.

HP, as I mentioned, entered the 3D-printing market last year, with the launch of two enterprise-focused 3D printers. Autodesk makes design software for 3D printing and other uses, and has several 3D-printing initiatives. Trimble, a company traditionally focused on GPS, owns SketchUp, an extremely popular 3D modeling and design platform. It also partners with Belgian 3D-printing company Materialise on initiatives to streamline 3D-printing workflows. (Materialise -- a 3D-printing pure play that makes 3D-printing software and provides 3D-printing services -- is conspicuously missing from the ETF.)

Takeaway

An ideal 3D-printing ETF, in my opinion, would be more heavily weighted toward 3D-printing pure plays. That said, The 3D Printing ETF does a decent job representing the quite expansive 3D-printing realm. It seems a solid option for investors who want broad exposure to 3D printing -- a technology that is widely expected to revolutionize the manufacturing sector. As previously mentioned, the ETF's expense ratio is 0.66%, which is fairly reasonable.

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>>> GE expands its German 3-D metal printer Concept Laser with plans for bigger headquarters


By Ciara Linnane

Mar 8, 2017



http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge-expands-its-german-3-d-metal-printer-concept-laser-with-plans-for-bigger-headquarters-2017-03-08?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts



General Electric Co. GE, +1.27% said Wednesday it is aggressively expanding German 3-D metal printing company Concept Laser GmbH, in which it purchased a 75% stake in mid-December. GE has increased the number of employees at the company to 244 from 200 and is expected to reach 350 to 400 people by early 2018. Most of the new hires will be in engineering and technicians, GE said in a statement. GE is planning a big expansion of the company's headquarters in Lichtenfels with new space planned for manufacturing, product development, testing and administration. The company also has operations in the U.S., in Grapevine, Texas, and in China.

GE has been on a buying spree of 3-D metal printing companies of late. In 2016, it acquired Sweden's Arcam AB and Germany's SLM Solutions Group AG for a combined $1.4 billion. Those moves were aimed at pushing the company into 3-D printing as a way to make aircraft components and other parts.

3-D printing involves using digital designs and modeling software with laser technology to create parts that are usually lighter and more durable than traditionally manufactured parts because they need less welding and machining. But much of the promise of the market is the extra design possibilities for engineers. GE shares were flat Wednesday, and are down 5.5% in the year so far. The Ark Invest's 3D Printing ETF PRNT, -2.37% has gained 5% in the same time frame, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% has gained 5.7%.

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>>> GE’s $1.4 billion push into 3-D printing sends sole ETF to record high


By Ciara Linnane and Ryan Vlastelica

Sept 7, 2016




GE is buying two European 3-D metal printing companies

GE CEO Jeff Immelt is making a big bet on 3-D printing.



http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ges-14-billion-push-into-3-d-printing-sends-sole-etf-to-record-high-2016-09-06?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts



News that General Electric Co. is buying two European 3-D metal printing companies sent the only exchange-traded fund dedicated to that industry to a record Tuesday, marking its biggest one-day gain since it was launched in July.

Ark Invest’s 3D Printing ETF PRNT, -2.37% rose 5.5% to an all-time high of $22.29. Since its inception, the ETF has gained more than 10%, while over the past month, according to FactSet data, the $5.3 million fund has seen inflows of $2.1 million.

GE GE, +1.27% said earlier that it is launching dual tender offers to buy Sweden’s Arcam AB ARCM, +1.51% and Germany’s SLM Solutions Group AG AM3D, +0.33% for a combined $1.4 billion. Those moves are aimed at pushing the company into 3-D printing as a way to make aircraft components and other parts.

Read: HP looks to make its mark in 3-D printing

Both Arcam and SLM Solutions number among the Ark fund’s top 10 holdings. SLM makes up 5.3% of the fund’s portfolio, while Arcam constitutes 4.3%.


“We’ve long thought of 3-D printing as a highly undervalued and underappreciated sector,” said Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Invest. “We’ve seen research indicating that 3-D printing could be a $20 billion industry by 2020; we think it could be double that or even more as it becomes a bigger part of the industrial or prototyping process. Today GE is corroborating our research.”

Read: 3-D printing is poised for breakout 2016

Additive manufacturing, the industry term for 3-D printing, “is a key part of GE’s evolution into a digital industrial company,” GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in a statement. “We are poised to not only benefit from this movement as a customer, but spearhead it as a leading supplier.”

3-D printing involves using digital designs and modeling software with laser technology to create parts. Parts made that way are usually lighter and more durable than traditionally manufactured parts because they need less welding and machining. But much of the promise of the market is the extra design possibilities for engineers.

GE is expecting to see 3-D printing grow into a $1 billion business by 2020. The company has invested about $1.5 billion in 3-D technology since 2010, allowing it to develop applications across six of its businesses, create new applications across the company and earn 346 patents in powder metals.

In July, GE Aviation launched the LEAP jet engine, which included its first 3-D–printed component, fuel-nozzle interiors that could not have been made using traditional methods. The engine has become the best-selling engine made by GE’s joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines of France. The company, called CFM International, currently has orders for more than 11,0000 LEAP engines, with up to 20 fuel nozzles per engine.

Arcam, based near Gothenburg in western Sweden, invented the electron beam melting machine for metal-based 3-D printing and produces advanced metal powders, according to GE. The company has 285 employees and generated $68 million of revenue in 2015 with customers in the aerospace and health-care industries.

SLM Solutions Group, based in Lubeck, in northern Germany, makes laser machines for metal-based 3-D printing, with customers in the aerospace, energy, health-care and car industries.


That company has 260 employees and had revenue of $74 million in 2014.

GE is planning to keep the headquarters and main operating facilities of each company and to retain their employees and management teams. They will work with GE’s research center in Niskayuna, N.Y., as well as the 3-D team in Pittsburgh

Shares of other 3-D companies also rose Tuesday, with 3D Systems Corp. DDD, -5.51% up 7% and Stratasys Ltd. SSYS, -6.49% gaining 6%. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% was up 0.02

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>>> Forget IBM, Buy These Thematic Tech ETFs Instead



Sanghamitra Saha

Zacks

April 20, 2017



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/forget-ibm-buy-thematic-tech-150003029.html



International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) witnessed year-over-year revenue decline for the 20th time in a row with its Q1 results. The company’s earnings per share came in at $2.38, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.34.

Its revenues of $18.2 billion, however, fell short of $18.494 billion and declined 3% year over year. The company's shares slid over 5% after hours, as per CNBC. IBM is up 2.5% so far this year (as of April 18, 2017).

So, what should investors do now? Should they take cues from IBM’s lackluster revenue numbers and get all disappointed about the broader tech sector or look out for tech ETFs that have the potential to outperform ahead. One thing is clear from IBM’s results –– the company has been transiting toward better growth areas “like cloud, analytics, mobility and security.”

In this vein, below we highlight a few thematic tech ETFs that could benefit investors over the long term.


ETFs in Focus


First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund SKYY

IBM’s results only drive us to land on a cloud computing ETF. Amid subdued revenue performance, IBM registered a 33% year-over-year rise in cloud computing sales. This fund provides exposure to cloud computing securities by tracking the ISE Cloud Computing Index. Holding about 30 stocks, it is pretty well spread out across components with none holding more than 5.01% of assets. Software firms dominate this ETF, accounting for about 40% share. It has 0.60% in expense ratio and has gained 11% so far this year.

Global X FinTech ETF FINX

Financial technology or “FinTech” is gaining immense popularity courtesy of increased usage of technology in financial transactions. Initially, FinTech was restricted to certain areas like payment processes. But it has now widened to include several other applications in the financial sector.

Mobile banking, mobile trading on commodities exchanges and digital wallets are examples of technological applications in the financial space, as per investopedia. IBM’s result also reinforces the rise of mobile practices (read: Fintech ETFs Head to Head: FINQ vs. FINX).

The top three holdings of FINX are First Data (6.47%), Temenos Group Ag-Reg (6.35%) and SS&C Technologies Holding (6.11%). The 29-stock fund puts about 42% weight in the data processing & outsourced services while application software (35.5%) and Internet software & services (6.8%) round out the next two spots. The U.S. has about 69.6% exposure to the fund followed by Germany (7.28%) and Switzerland (7.28%). Growth stocks account for about 72% of the fund. The fund charges 68 bps in fees and is up 11.2% in the year-to-date frame (as of April 18, 2017).

PureFunds ISE Big Data ETF BIGD

The fund focuses on another soaring area of big data and analytics industry. The 41-stock fund doesn’t put more than 3.40% of weight in one stock. It charges 75 bps in fees. The fund is up 7.5% so far this year (as of April 18, 2017).

Robo Global Robotics&Automation ETF ROBO

The robotics industry is also poised to grow at an exponential rate in the coming days. Holding about 85 stocks in its portfolio, the fund maintains a diversified portfolio with only 1.831% of its assets invested in the top company. The fund mostly invests in companies from the U.S. (43%) and Japan (25%). The fund is multi-cap in nature, with a tilt toward smaller capitalization. It has an expense ratio of 0.95%. ROBO is up 10% so far this year (as of April 18, 2017) (read: What Investors Need to Know about Robotics ETFs).

The 3D Printing ETF PRNT

3D Printing technology investing has lately become one of the most talked-about topics. Several analysts offered bullish growth projections for this industry. McKinsey projects the 3D printing market to grow from $4 billion in 2014 to between $180 billion and $490 billion by 2025. Gartner Research sees more-than-double 3D printer shipments between 2016 and 2019. Most importantly, the space is still at a nascent stage and thus has room for upside.

No stock accounts for 6.67% of the 42-stock fund. It is up 6.6% in the year-to-date frame (read: 3D Printing ETF: A Good Long-Term Pick?).

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>>> 3D Systems to buy design software maker Cimatron


Reuters

November 24, 2014



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3d-systems-buy-design-software-105500306.html



Nov 24 (Reuters) - 3D printer maker 3D Systems Corp said it would buy Cimatron Ltd for about $97 million to strengthen its position in the fast-growing 3D design and manufacturing business.

3D Systems said it will pay $8.97 per Cimatron share, a premium of 47.5 percent to the stock's closing price on the Nasdaq on Friday.

Israel-based Cimatron provides 3D design software products.

3D Systems said the deal will add to adjusted profit and cash flow immediately after its expected close in the first quarter of 2015.

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>>> Organovo Holdings Inc.'s 36% Ascent in 2016 Can Be Attributed to These 3 Factors


Things have finally begun to gel for Organovo, but investors shouldn't get too excited just yet.



Sean Williams

Jan 6, 2017


http://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/06/organovo-holdings-incs-36-ascent-in-2016-can-be-at.aspx?source=yahoo-2&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=yahoo-2&yptr=yahoo



What happened

Shares of Organovo Holdings (NASDAQ:ONVO), a life sciences company primarily focused on the development of bioengineered human tissues for the pharmaceutical and research industries, surged 36% in 2016 according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The reason for Organovo's standout year can be traced to three factors.

So what

As outlined by my Foolish colleague Keith Speights, the biggest catalyst for Organovo in 2016 was the commercial launch of its ExVive human kidney tissue assay in September. Organovo's human kidney tissue product joins its ExVive human liver tissue assay as its only marketed products. These assays can be quite handy to drug developers since they can help determine tissue toxicities without having to run costly, time-consuming preclinical and/or phase 1 trials. Organovo's management team believes its kidney assay could bring in $100 million annually in peak sales, if not more.

Secondly, Organovo's top and bottom lines are finally beginning to show improvement with sales of its liver assay maturing and its kidney assay kicking off. For instance, after reporting $1.5 million in fiscal 2016 sales, the company now expects between $4.5 million and $6.2 million in full-year revenue in fiscal 2017. With a net cash utilization of between $31 million and $34 million, Organovo has about two years of cash runway left before it may need to seek additional financing. By then, sales of its core products may have roared even higher.

Finally, Organovo has been a busy bee when it comes to collaborations and agreements. In addition to recognizing revenue from its collaboration with Merck, announced in 2015, Organovo announced collaborations with the University of California, San Francisco to develop 3D bio-printed tissues for skeletal disease research , and in December signed a distributor agreement with Cosmo Bio in Japan for its NovoView Preclinical Services. The point of these collaborations and agreements is to get its name out into the mainstream, and to that end Organovo appears to be doing a good job.

Now what

The big question, though, is whether Organovo can take its Star Trek-like technology and apply it to the business world to make money. Even though we're seeing a nice surge in revenue and a slight decline in net operating losses, Organovo isn't anywhere near being profitable on a recurring basis. In fact, Wall Street's prediction of $31 million in sales by 2019 probably won't be enough to put Organovo into the black. This means Organovo is going to need more cash at some point in the future, which probably means more share offerings that dilute existing investors.

On the other hand, Organovo has technology with the capability to really save drug developers money. What's unanswered at this point is whether it'll catch on. While I'd certainly like it to from the standpoint that it quickens the drug-development process and makes it safer, my brain also tells me that we're very early in the game and Organovo has a lot to prove before it's investment-worthy. Until we see additional drug developers latch onto Organovo's assays, or we see a substantive decline in net operating losses, my suggestion would be to monitor Organovo stock safely from the sidelines.

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Organovo -- >>> These Companies Prove that Reverse Splits Can Be a Very Good Thing for Stakeholders



June 14, 2016

Contributor: Sam Wentworth



http://news.investornetwork.com/2016/06/14/these-companies-prove-that-reverse-splits-can-be-a-very-good-thing-for-stakeholders/?1=1&1465936593



The Wealthy Biotech Trader (or “WBT”), an investment newsletter focused on showing everyday investors new opportunities in rapidly growing, little-known, biotech, pharma and medical device stocks making news and subsequent market moves, would like to create awareness among investors on why reverse splits aren’t always a bad thing.

Companies included: Advanced Medical Isotope (ADMD); Staffing 360 Solutions (STAF); Organovo Holdings (ONVO); Innovio Pharmaceuticals (INO); Annavex Life Sciences (AVXL)

Few things can get investors’ attention faster than when a company announces a reverse split. This is due to the fact that reverse splits are often associated with penny stocks which most investors assume lack a path to profitability and only want to prop up their share price in order to float more shares. The other scenario could be that a company is desperately trying to maintain its listing in the major exchanges such as NYSE or NASDAQ since these require the stock prices to be maintained at certain levels.

However, many cases of reverse splits should not be viewed as a negative event since they give an opportunity for small over the counter (OTC) stocks to join the ranks of peers at the major exchanges, increasing exposure and liquidity. This essentially means that such stocks will be able to garner much needed attention from retail brokers and institutional investors as well as increasing their access to capital. In the recent past, there have been a couple of reverse splits that have gone on to be quite successful as we will highlight in this article and we believe that we have found another potential winner in Advanced Medical Isotopes (OTC: ADMD).

AMI, a late stage development company engaged primarily in the development of brachytherapy devices and medical isotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications with a focus on yttrium-90 brachytherapy treatments has revealed plans to effect a reverse stock split before the end of October. Management further explains that this course of action has been taken as the company plans to list on one of the major exchanges following the highly encouraging results from its product pipeline.

The market for brachytherapy products has been steadily expanding with recent research predicting its growth from $680 million in 2013 to $2.4 billion by 2030. Being one of the few companies developing brachytherapy products, Advanced Medical Isotopes couldn’t be in a better position to make the most of this opportunity.

CEO James Katzaroff has pointed out that the simplest way to describe the company’s lead product, Y-90 RadioGel, is that it’s injected into inoperable tumours and then hardens, effectively stopping the spread of cancer, with the radioactivity effectively killing the cancer cells, while focusing the therapeutic dose to the affected area. He believes that with a successful up-listing, Advanced Medical Isotope will be able to advance its clinical programs, as the company seeks to raise $5-$10 million in the next two years.

Another important aspect that investors should be aware of is the company’s strong commitment to reducing debt and increasing shareholders’ value. AMI reduced total liabilities from $20.2 million in 2014 to about $9.9 million in 2015. For investors with a high risk tolerance, the opportunity to own this stock now before it up-lists may mean the outstanding possibility for above market returns.

Previous reverse stock split winners

Innovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) announced a 1-4 reverse split almost two years ago and has been on a winning streak ever since up-listing to the NASDAQ later in the same year. The company is taking immunotherapy to the next level in the fight against cancer and infectious diseases being the only immunotherapy company that has reported generating T cells in vivo in high quantity that are fully functional and whose killing capacity correlates with relevant clinical outcomes with a favourable safety profile.

President and CEO, Dr Joseph Kim pointed out that the move to list on the exchange would be instrumental for investors in terms of increasing the stocks liquidity and visibility at a time when the company had made some major breakthroughs in its product pipeline. Since the split, the company has gained 17 percent, grown its product portfolio and grow to a $775 million valuation.

Staffing 360 Solutions (NASDAQ: STAF) is a public company in the staffing sector engaged in the execution of a global buy-and-build strategy through the acquisition of domestic and international staffing organizations with operations in the US and UK. On September last year, the company effected a 1-10 reverse stock split which upon completion would see the stock uplist and trade on the NASDAQ exchange. Since then, the company has had an impressive performance with a number of analysts initiating positive coverage on the stock.

The company has managed to sustain its momentum as it recently reached the halfway mark of its goal of achieving $300 million in annualized revenue by the end of FY16Q3. Revenue rose by 42 percent for the most recent quarter compared to the year ago period also managed to generate $2.2 million in operating cash flow during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year. It is in light of this solid growth that analysts at See ThruEquity gave the stock a price target of $5.65 which translates to upside potential of more than 150 percent from the current share price.

Organovo Holdings (NYSE MKT: ONVO) has surged 12.9 percent on an YTD basis and is another great example of what an OTC stock can achieve after successfully up-listing to a higher exchange. The company is a commercial stage company focused on developing and commercializing functional human tissues that can be employed in drug discovery and development, biological research, and as therapeutic implants for the treatment of damaged or degenerating tissues and organs.

The company’s flagship commercial product is the exVive 3D Human Liver Assays and although management has decided not to reveal information on its sales until later this year, there is no doubt that the potential market is massive. Also, Organovo won’t be banking on this product alone as it plans to develop a kidney which will command higher prices compared to the liver. With the increased visibility of a national listing, the company will be able to raise capital to fund subsequent trials at more favourable terms.

Annavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ: AVXL) is among the more recent companies that have had to do a reverse stock split. The company effected a 1-4 reverse split back in October last year and also uplisted to NASDAQ. Although the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing drug candidates to treat Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system (CNS) diseases, pain, and various types of cancer has not been able to get back to its post IPO highs of almost $13 per share, the stock still has plenty of room for growth.

Just last week, the company disclosed that the FDA had granted Orphan Drug Designation to its ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Rett syndrome a clear signal of more upside potential in the stock. Rett syndrome is a devastating disease occurring in early childhood and almost exclusively in girls and since there is currently no cure, ANAVEX stands to become the standard of care in the near term.

This report/release/profile is a commercial advertisement and is for general information purposes only.

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Organovo -- >>> 3 Top Jefferies New Growth Stocks to Buy With Big Upside Potential



By Lee Jackson

July 6, 2015



http://247wallst.com/investing/2015/07/06/3-top-jefferies-new-growth-stocks-to-buy-with-big-upside-potential/2/



Organovo


This stock is initiated at a Buy rating and slipped recently as a result of a secondary stock offering. Organovo Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT: ONVO) designs and creates functional, three-dimensional human tissues for medical research and therapeutic applications. The company develops 3D human disease models through internal development and in collaboration with pharmaceutical and academic partners. Organovo believes these 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed faster and at lower cost.

The Jefferies analysts feel that the company’s 3D printed human tissues offer clear advantages over current traditional methods for drug discovery and toxicology testing. They report that Organovo’s first commercial products for the liver uptake has been positive and they have been getting solid interest from top major pharmaceutical companies in recent years. The analysts also think that the liver and kidney could each be $100 million plus products on very minimal penetration.

The Jefferies price target for this very interesting but very aggressive stock is $5, and the consensus is posted at $5.33. Shares ended last week at $3.74.

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>>> FARO Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supports software-based three-dimensional measurement and imaging systems for manufacturing, industrial, building construction, and forensic applications. The company?s articulated electromechanical measuring devices include FaroArm, a combination of six or seven-axis, articulated measurement arm, a computer, and computer-aided measurement (CAM2) software programs; and FARO Laser ScanArm, a FaroArm equipped with a combination of a hard probe and non-contact line laser probe to measure products without touching them and offers a seven-axis contact/non-contact measurement device with an integrated laser scanner. It also provides FARO Gage, an articulated arm device with a computer and software; FARO Laser Tracker Vantage that combines a laser measurement tool, a computer, and CAM2 software programs; FARO Focus3D to measure and collect data points; and FARO 3D Imager AMP, a non-contact 3D imager capable of collecting millions of points to generate infinitely-focused fringe patterns. In addition, the company offers FARO Software, a proprietary CAD-based measurement and laser scanner software; CAM2 Measure 10 that allows customers to complete measurement jobs; FARO CAM2 Gage Software for measuring geometry and building dimensions; and FARO SCENE, a software to deliver scan processing solutions. Further, it provides extended warranties, as well as support, training, and technology consulting services. The company sells its products through direct sales and distributors. It serves automobile, aerospace, and heavy equipment markets, as well as universities and law enforcement agencies in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. FARO Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida. <<<

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>>> Arcam AB's New 3-D Printer Takes Off With Aerospace Companies



By Beth McKenna

July 26, 2014



http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/07/26/arcam-abs-new-3-d-printer-takes-off-with-aerospace.aspx


Arcam (NASDAQOTH: AMAVF ) released its second-quarter 2014 earnings on July 18. While the Swedish industrial metal 3-D printing specialist posted weak earnings, there was some good news that hasn't yet shown up in its results: Very early indications are that Arcam's new Q20 3-D printer, based on the company's proprietary electron beam melting technology, is garnering solid interest from the aerospace industry. Arcam has received eight orders since the Q20 was launched in December.

Naturally, any company would love for its new product to meet with early acceptance by its target market. What makes things particularly exciting here, however, is that the $630 billion aerospace industry is just now beginning to move beyond using 3-D printing technology for prototyping and small-run production of noncritical components to the production of highly critical components. General Electric's (NYSE: GE ) well-publicized plans to use 3-D printing to produce fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet engine is a case in point. So we're talking about a market that appears to be poised for takeoff (pun intended).

It's not just the potential size of the market that's attractive, but its the nature. There are usually considerably fatter profit margins involved in the production of components that have critical end uses because of the high quality-assurance hurdles companies must jump in order to be included in such endeavors.


The Q20

Arcam's Q20 3-D printing system is based on the company's third-generation technology. This system was specifically designed for series production of a wide range of aerospace components, such as turbine blades and structural airframe components. The Q20 is derived from the Arcam Q10 technology platform, with the same electron beam gun for higher productivity and improved resolution, but with a larger build envelope of 350 by 380 millimeters (about 13.8 by 15 inches). The Q10 was launched early last year and is targeted toward the medical implants, which are Arcam's other primary market.

The Q20 also has two other features that are meant to make it efficient for use in a production environment. It's equipped with a powder recovery system, which allows for the automatic recycling of unused metal powder. Additionally, it includes the Arcam LayerQam, a camera-based monitoring system to verify part quality by recording every layer as it is built.

Eight orders for a new high-end product in a six-month period is quite solid for a small company like Arcam. The company sold just 25 of its EBM systems in 2013, and 11 in the first half of 2014. CEO Magnus Rene said during Arcam's second-quarter conference call, "We decided to delay the shipments of the Q20 systems for a few weeks to finalize quality assurance before we ship the first systems out.


In other words, Arcam produced at least several Q20s during the second quarter, though it didn't book any sales from them, as the company held up shipments for QA reasons. Certainly, taking extra time on the quality-assurance end is a smart thing to do before shipping out the first new products of any kind, especially very high-end items. The fact that several -- we don't know exactly how many -- Q20s were nearly completed at the end of June should bode well for Arcam's revenue in the next quarter.

Additionally, there's the General Electric 3-D printing capacity ramp-up wild card. GE announced last week that it is investing $50 million in a high-volume 3-D printing operation at its Auburn, Ala., facility. That's where the fuel nozzles for the Leap jet engine will be produced. Greg Morris, general manager of additive technologies, told Reuters, "We're in the final stages of selecting the equipment manufacturers." So investors in Arcam -- as well as 3D Systems -- should soon learn whether their company will be involved in GE's plans.

Foolish final thoughts
Of course, the rubber will meet the road -- or the takeoff strip -- once the first several Q20 systems are shipped and put t use by customers. However, given that this is a third-generation technology product, and Arcam used input from aerospace companies during the design phase, it seems likely that the Q20's takeoff will be smooth.

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>>> Should 3D Systems Corp. Acquire Modern Meadow?



By Steve Symington

July 10, 2014



http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/07/10/should-3d-systems-corp-acquire-modern-meadow.aspx



Modern Meadow scientist Karoly Jakab observing a tray of lab-grown meat. Source: Modern Meadow.

One of the biggest draws of additive manufacturing -- or, as we've come to know it, 3-D printing -- is that materials aren't wasted to produce any given product. By contrast, traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques are more like carving a sculpture: Start with a big block of the material out of which the product is to be made, then remove the excess until you achieve the desired form.

And as additive manufacturing leaders like 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD ) , Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS ) , and ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE ) continue to narrow the gap with speed and capabilities between their respective technologies and traditional manufacturing, the market for 3-D printing should only continue to grow by leaps and bounds. So far, however, the 3-D printing industry's efforts have largely focused on using materials like plastic, glass, and metal.

Another massive industry ripe for the picking
Speaking of waste, did you know that more than one-third of all available land in the world is used for livestock production? Or that it takes over 50 gallons of water to make a single quarter-pound burger? Or consider the fact that 20% of all leather is wasted in manufacturing and 70% of leather's wet weight is comprised of toxic solid wastes.

But one Brooklyn-based company is aiming to solve these problems: Modern Meadow.

Co-founded by Andras Forgacs, his father, Gabor, and scientists Francoise Marga and Karoly Jacab, Modern Meadow is looking to 3-D bioprinting to reduce the global impact of livestock production -- all without harming animals in the process. Previously, the father-son combo also founded tissue printing specialist Organovo (NYSEMKT: ONVO ) , which went public in 2012 and is working to create functional 3-D human tissue for medical research and therapeutic applications.

As it stands, Modern Meadow's efforts still remain in the early stages and are far from being ready for mass production. But the company has already demonstrated the ability to create lab-grown leather and beef -- the latter of which the elder Forgacs actually ate while giving a live TEDMED talk in 2011.

However, according to Modern Meadow business director Sara Sclarsic, "[T]he first range of products to hit the market will be cultured leather and related biomaterials, not cultured meat."

And it appears Modern Meadow wants that to happen sooner rather than later: Only a few weeks ago, Modern Meadow announced it had raised $10 million in additional Series A financing to "accelerate R&D product development as well as to open an expanded research headquarters at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in New York City."

All in favor...
But here's my question: Why hasn't another company acquired Modern Meadow already? More specifically, why hasn't 3D Systems done so yet?

After all, 3D Systems' VP and Chief Strategy Officer Ping Fu already serves as an advisor to Modern Meadow. In fact, without explicitly naming Modern Meadow, Fu even mentioned her involvement with the company and highlighted the promise of its technology in an interview with our very own Brendan Bynes early last year.


3-D printed sugar from 3D Systems ChefJet printers. Source: 3D Sytems Corp.

In addition, 3D Systems already acquired fellow food printing specialist The Sugar Lab last year, so currently stands the largest publicly traded 3-D printing company with any meaningful presence in the 3-D printed food market. Meanwhile, Stratasys has remained busy given both its massive merger of equals with Objet in late 2012, as well as its $400 million acquisition of MakerBot around this time last year. And high-end industrial printing specialist ExOne, for its part, is still facing lumpy quarterly results given the massive costs of its high-end industrial printers, as well as margin pressures from the ongoing implementation of its key ExCast initiative.

I'll admit, however, 3D Systems current line of ChefJet 3-D sugar printers primarily appeals to professional kitchens seeking the ability to create geometrically pleasing edible prints with minimal effort. At the same time, Liz von Hasseln -- who founded The Sugar Lab and is now 3D Systems' creative director of food products -- has already stated they want the technology to evolve "into a variety of flavors and foods, powered by real food printers for both professionals and consumers alike."

And what better way for 3D Systems to do so than to propel its food products business head-first into the multibillion-dollar market opportunity presented by 3-D bioprinting?

All opposed...
That's not to say there wouldn't be drawbacks for 3D Systems in acquiring Modern Meadow.

While we don't have any meaningful information on the precise financials of its business, for example, it's safe to say Modern Meadow's young technology isn't generating any meaningful revenue or earnings at this point. To the contrary, the entire premise of tackling such an acquisition this early in the game lies with Modern Meadow's extraordinary promise for generating results down the road.

But that certainly wouldn't appease investors who are already skeptical of 3D Systems' habit of pursuing growth through acquisitions at the expense of profitability over the past few years. If acquiring Modern Meadow at this stage were to significantly hinder 3D Systems' focus on the rest of its more developed businesses, the market may cry foul.

Foolish takeaway
Alternatively, Modern Meadow could follow Organovo's go-public path. But despite its lack of near-term profitability, keep in mind Organovo currently boasts a $640 million market cap. If Modern Meadow commands anywhere near the same premium, that'd be a big pill to swallow even for the $5.6 billion behemoth that is 3D Systems. Over the long term, though, and if Modern Meadow's world-changing aspirations ultimately bear fruit -- or meat, rather -- it could be the best money 3D Systems ever spent.

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>>> 3D Market: Printing Materials, 3D Scanning and Animation Industry Analysis and Forecasts



https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/3d-market-printing-materials-3d-141500837.html



May 6, 2014

PRNewswire


ReportsnReports.com offers 3D market research reports in its store covering forecasts data on 3D printing market, 3D printing materials industry, 3D scanning, 3D animation industry and more.

3D Printing Market by Technology (SLA, SLS, EBM, FDM, EBM, LOM, 3DP), Materials (Polymers, Metal), Application (Aerospace, Automotive, Consumer, Healthcare, Government & Defense) & Geography (Americas, Europe, APAC & ROW) (2013 - 2020) research report ( http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/270520-3d-printing-market-by-technology-sla-sls-ebm-fdm-ebm-lom-3dp-materials-polymers-metal-application-aerospace-automotive-consumer-healthcare-government-defense-geography-americas-europe-apac-row-2013-2020-.html ) categorizes 3D Printing market based on various applications, technology, materials, and geography; it also covers the revenue foretold from 2013 to 2020. It describes the demand for 3D printing in various regions. The report describes the applications mapping in the 3D printing market with respect to the growth potential. The competitive landscape segment in the report covers all the key growth strategies of several major players as well as startups in the global 3D printing market; including 3D Systems (U.S.), Stratasys (U.S.), Renishaw (U.K.), EnvisionTEC (Germany), Optomec (U.S.), SLM Solutions (Germany), LayerWise (Belgium), ExOne (U.S.), EOS GmbH (Germany), Organovo Holdings (U.S.), and Arcam (Sweden), among others. Order a copy of this report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=270520 .

3D Printing Materials Market by Plastics (ABS, PLA, Nylon & Others), By Metals (Steel, Titanium, Gold & Others), by Ceramics (Silica, Glass & Others), by Others (Laywood & Others), by Forms & by End-User Industries - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2018 research report (http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/271544-3d-printing-materials-market-by-plastics-abs-pla-nylon-others-by-metals-steel-titanium-gold-others-by-ceramics-silica-glass-others-by-others-laywood-others-by-forms-by-end-user-industries-global-trends-forecasts-to-2018.html ) says demand for 3D printing materials is influenced by the growing awareness of the ability to manufacture objects with the use of 3D printing technology where a simple CAD design and 3D printer are necessary. 3DP materials are printer specific and are available universally. There are wide ranges of materials that can print plastic toys to metal guns, dental crowns to human heart, automotive parts to satellite parts, car to aero jets, and so on. The 3DP materials can be in the form of filaments, powders, and liquids, based on the end-user interest. Generally, plastics come in the form of filaments and metals come in the form of powders. Metal powders too costly and are used in high-end applications, whereas plastics are available in different prices that range from low to high and are mostly used in consumer 3D printing. Currently, 3DP materials are mainly concentrated in North America, APAC, and Europe. The APAC and North American markets are expected to grow at a higher rate in future.

The 3D printing materials market is moderately fragmented, where 3D Systems Inc. (U.S.), Stratasys Ltd. (U.S.); Arcam AB (Sweden); and ExOne Gmbh (Germany) captured about 75.0% of the market share in production and supply. The companies in this market need to compete with each other with respect to prices and a wide product range with an advanced technology in order to meet the market requirements. Order a copy of this report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=271544 .

3D Scanning Market - By Devices (Optical, Laser, Structured Light), Range (Short , Medium, Large), Solutions (Portable, PCMM), Services (Reverse Engineering, Quality Inspection, Rapid Prototyping) - Worldwide Market Forecasts and Analysis (2013 - 2018) research report (http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/266570-3d-scanning-market-by-devices-optical-laser-structured-light-range-short-medium-large-solutions-portable-pcmm-services-reverse-engineering-quality-inspection-rapid-prototyping-worldwide-market-forecasts-and-analysis-2013-2018-.html ) profiles a few of the major players in the market like Faro Technologies, Konica Minolta, Creaform, Surphaser, Autodesk, 3D Systems, 3D Digital Corp. and others. The 3D scanning research report analyzes global adoption trends, evolving platforms and forces in this rapidly emerging market. The report also focuses on opportunity analysis, competitive landscape and estimates the market size with forecasts, across multiple verticals and regions. The report also focuses on various geographical markets for each of the sub segments within the 3D scanning environment. The major geographical regions include North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific including Japan, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. This report segments the 3D Scanning market by type of 3D scanners, 3D Scanning by range, solutions, applications, services, verticals and geographical regions. Complete report can be ordered at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=266570 .

3D Animation Market by Hardware (Workstations, Video Card/GPU, Mocap system), Software (Packaged Software/Platform, SDK, Plug-in Software), Service (Consulting, Support & Maintenance, Development & Integration, Training & Certification) - Worldwide Forecasts & Analysis (2014-2019) research report (http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/283180-3d-animation-market-by-hardware-workstations-video-card-gpu-mocap-system-software-packaged-software-platform-sdk-plug-in-software-service-consulting-support-maintenance-development-integration-training-certification.html ) says 3D animation market has a highest market share for the media and entertainment vertical. The different industries/ verticals based on which this report has been divided are architecture, building and construction, academia and education, defense and intelligence, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing and design, and others. The CAD software offers an easy, cost effective method for designing quality 3D models for architects, engineers and designers for various industrial spheres such as civil and infrastructure construction, plant design and engineering, aerospace engineering, oil and gas and more. The increasing adoption of CAD is responsible for the growth of this market in manufacturing and design, and architecture, building and construction. The adoption of on-demand software or storage is not very high in this market but is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.3% in the forecast period.

There are a number of prominent players in the 3D animation market and a whole lot of start-up companies that are providing software platforms to cater to the continuously rising demand of 3D animation software market. Companies such as Adobe Systems, AMD, Autodesk, Intel, Lenovo, Corel, NVIDIA, Side Effects Software offer a wide portfolio of hardware, software and services in this market. Order a copy of this report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=283180 .

Otherreports on the 3D market available with ReportsnReports.com include:

3D Gesture Sensing Control: Development Trends and Patent Analysis is a 23 pages market research report published in March 2014. In November 2013, Apple spent US$360 million to acquire PrimeSense, a key player in 3D gesture sensing control industry. This news has raised speculation that Apple is going to move forward from its current multi-touch control to 3D gesture sensing control in the future. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google, Sony, Samsung are also actively deploying in this field. This report surveys major technology of 3D gesture sensing control, conducts a thorough analysis on current patents, and pinpoints 10 significant patents worth noting in the future. Complete report is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/276804-3d-gesture-sensing-control-development-trends-and-patent-analysis.html .

Global 3D Printing Materials Market 2014-2018 research report is of 56 pages and was published in February 2014. Key vendors dominating this space and discussed in this report are 3D Systems Inc., Arcam AB., ExOne GmbH, and Stratasys Ltd. Other vendors mentioned in the report are Arkema SA, Bolson Materials International Inc., CRP Group, DSM Desotech Inc., EnvisionTEC GmbH, EOS Gmbh Electro Optical Systems, Hoganas AB, Lomiko Metals Inc., LPW Technology Ltd., Materialise NV, Oxford Performance Materials, Renishaw plc, Sandvik AB, Solid Concepts Inc., and Voxeljet AG. Complete report is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/276778-global-3d-printing-materials-market-2014-2018.html .

Market Research Report on Global and Chinese Laser 3D scanner Industry, 2009-2019 is of 150 pages and was published in March 2014. Companies like Trimble, Hexagon Group (Leica), Nikon, SureStar and others have been profiled in this report. Complete report is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/278822-market-research-report-on-global-and-chinese-laser-3d-scanner-industry-2009-2019.html .

Explore more reports on the 3D industry at http://www.reportsnreports.com/tags/3d-market-research.html .

About Us:

ReportsnReports.com is an online market research reports library of 400,000+ in-depth studies of over 5000 micro markets. Our database includes reports by leading publishers from across the globe. We provide 24/7 online and offline support service to our customers.

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3-D Printer World website -

http://www.3dprinterworld.com/

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>>> Why Is HP Entering The 3D Printing Industry?


Trefis Team

Forbes

3-28-14


http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/28/why-is-hp-entering-the-3d-printing-industry/?partner=yahootix



Hewlett-Packard‘s CEO, Meg Whitman, at the shareholders meeting on March 20, announced that the company is planning to enter the 3D printer space by the end of this Fiscal year. (HP’s fiscal year ends on 31st October.) Although, the 3D printing technology is over a decade old, it has recently caught the imagination of manufacturing industry, as some of the advancements in the field have reduced price of owning, and manufacturing with, a 3D printer. As a result, the 3D printing industry is expected to grow at a robust pace of over 30% per year in the coming years. At present, small companies such as 3D Systems DDD +0.87% (NASDAQ: DDD) and Stratasys operate in this industry. However, with HP’s entry into this market, competition will surely heat up. While HP has not divulged much information on its product offering, in this article, we will size up the 3D printer market and analyze why HP is entering this market. Additionally, we will try to analyze how HP’s foray will impact the 3D printing industry.


Sizing The 3D Printer Market


The global three-dimensional (3D) printing (also known as additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping or direct manufacturing) industry is widely considered as a disruptive force to a number of manufacturing practices around the world, as it reduces the need to maintain and operate factories that have significant capital requirements.

According to Gartner, the combined end-user spending on 3D printers (3DPs) is estimated to be at $412 million in 2013, a year-on-year growth of 43% over the $288 million spending in 2012. Enterprise spending is estimated to total more than $325 million in 2013, while the consumer segment is estimated to reach nearly $87 million. Gartner also projects that 3DP spending will grow by 62% in 2014, reaching $669 million, with enterprise spending of $536 million and consumer spending of $133 million. Gartner estimates the number of units shipped to increase from 56,507 in 2013 to over 98,065 in 2014. It also expect the units shipped to double in 2015.

Most of the growth in 3D printing spending is currently driven by one-off or small-run models for product design and industrial prototyping, jigs and fixtures used in manufacturing processes and mass customization of finished goods. However, as the 3D printing technology advances, both in hardware and software technology together with reduced materials cost and complexity of creating 3D printed items, its applications will expand to mass market areas such as architecture, defense, medical products and jewelry design. As a result, according to Wholers Associates, the sale of 3D printing products and services, which includes printers, ink and products, is expected to grow to over $10.8 billion by 2021. However, this number pales in comparison to the revenues of the global manufacturing industry, which runs in trillions of dollars. Considering the market size of the manufacturing industry, we believe that the addressable size for 3D printer industry and its products is very large.

Why Is HP Entering 3D Printer Market Now?

HP is a leader in the 2D printer market, and its market share was nearly 40% in 2013 according to IDC. The company believes that 3D printing is a natural progression of its 2D printer business, where it has a sizeable share. In its shareholders meeting held last week, HP announced that it has plans to enter the commercial 3D printing market by the end of this fiscal year. The main reason why HP is entering the 3D printer market now is because a host of core patents such as apparatus for producing parts by selective sintering have either expired or are expiring within a year. As a result, HP won’t have to spend huge amount of time and money on developing new technology and processes for discovering how to model 3-D objects. Furthermore, the high cost of consumables in 3D printing has been a major barrier to innovation in the field. However, HP claims to have solved a number of technical problems such as low quality print output and long printing time that have hindered broader adoption of the high-tech manufacturing process.

HP’s Foray To Positively Impact 3D Printing Industry

HP’s foray in 3D printing will add some momentum to a fledgling industry that is dominated by smaller players and could help counter criticism that the technology is still too immature for widespread consumer adoption. Moreover, HP’s entry will bolster innovation in the industry as it has deep pockets (HP has nearly $16 billion in cash on its books), and can easily fund any R&D to improve future processes or ink (Plastic filament), which costs anywhere between $25 to $45 for a kilogram depending on the quality and manufacturer.

Additionally, HP can expedite the adoption process since it can mass produce 3D printers cheaply and market it through its well established distribution channel. HP has a relationship with several companies to whom it supplies its printer and PC. It can help these companies to manufacture some of their products as well. Such a move will create synergy not only for HP, but for its customers as well.

Although, the company did not disclose much about the product that might be introduced, it said that it will first target “enterprise” customers, which are comprised of businesses, government agencies and other organizations. While it is too early to speculate, we believe that most of the revenues from 3D printer will come from ink sale rather than sale of unit printers, primarily due to the fact that as adoption of 3D printing gains traction, manufacturers will require more ink.

We currently have a near $24.8 price estimate for HP, which is ~25% below of the current market price.

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>>> Today's Market: Are 3-D Printing Investors Correct To Run To The Exits?




Mar. 10, 2014

Includes: DDD, ONVO, SSYS, VJET, XONE



http://seekingalpha.com/article/2078393-todays-market-are-3-d-printing-investors-correct-to-run-to-the-exits?source=yahoo




We have always said that bull markets never die suddenly, they fight the good fight before dying from exhaustion. This usually holds true when it comes to the mini-bull markets that take place in the market, and is nearly always true when the mini-bull market is operating within a greater bull market. There are always outliers, such as the financial crash which led to the "Great Recession" but in our experience these are few and far between.

Which brings us to the 3-D printing names this morning, a sector under fire from investors in recent weeks as quarterly reports disappointed and momentum was lost. The pain for bulls shall continue in today's session after an article in Barron's (located here) but for investors who can stomach the volatility long-term there might be further gains to be had.

Chart of the Day:

In a down market, the smaller names will underperform versus the larger names in the long run. These names should be watched by both bulls and bears as they will be quite telling moving forward.


3-D Printing Names Under Pressure

We have been very vocal about our opinion on the 3-D printing names over the years, having called a bottom in the names right near their lows before the latest rally and having also sounded the alarm before the most recent weakness. With Barron's reporting on the sector in this week's edition of the paper we are seeing tremendous pressure on the sector as a whole. The article, "Beware 3-D Printing!" takes the industry to task, but also focuses a fair amount of attention on 3D Systems (DDD) ,which it says could decline 80% and still be richly valued, and Stratasys (SSYS), where it highlighted its issues with partnering with other companies. To be fair, a lot of attention should have been paid to those two names because they are the two biggest for American investors.

2014 has been a rough year for the industry, even though fresh all-time highs were put in early in January. Our thinking is that this retracement could lead to another move higher now that investors' expectations are not as high.

(click to enlarge)


Source: Yahoo Finance

Our worry is that Barron's is late to the short game as we were already once again looking at the industry as a pick for a short-term play on a move higher, or potentially another long-term bottom call. Obviously, the bearish article changes things, but we are more bullish today than we were before the article because Barron's has a history of not necessarily understanding trends and making value calls on growth industries which never pan out.

We would agree that the recent IPO names such as Voxeljet (VJET) and ExOne (XONE) could face issues in the future as competition picks up and the companies have to grow revenue and the bottom line significantly to keep up with the larger players in the industry, however our view for the bigger names in the sector is that they shall outperform the smaller names. This is a safe bet, especially in a difficult market because the blue chip names in industries such as this outperform when the industry falls on hard times.

We will continue to let the dust settle and watch for the various names in 3-D printing to find a bottom before we make another call, but our inclination at this point is that there is another move higher in the future for some of the key names in the sector.

On a separate note, Organovo (ONVO) has held in strongly since we last discussed the sector and with the weakness in both 3-D printing and biotech recently we think that the strength is telling. This might very well be a name to watch should 3-D printing bulls have their way again.

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>>> Will 3D Systems Conjure Up A Treat For Investors?




Feb. 27, 2014

About: DDD, Includes: ONVO



http://seekingalpha.com/article/2056613-will-3d-systems-conjure-up-a-treat-for-investors?source=yahoo




3-D printing stocks were all the rage in 2013 (3D Systems stock was up 142%), but 3-D printing is nothing new. In fact it’s been around since Chuck Hull of 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) built the first 3-D printer back in 1984. Since then the industry has come a long way and innovator’s are dreaming up new ways to use the process of additive manufacturing to transform the world. Organovo (ONVO) is attempting to 3-D print human liver replacements and 3D Systems just launched ChefJet and ChefJet Pro for, you guessed it, 3-D printing delicious treats. Cupcakes and biosynthesizing organ replacements are just the tip of the iceberg, other potential applications of 3-D printing technology include cheap prosthetic limbs and 3-D printing replacement parts on board space stations using a limited supply of stock material. The sales expectations for 3D Systems are high this quarter as Wall Street is expecting 53% revenue growth compared to the same period last year. DDD is set to report FQ4 2013 earnings before the market opens on Friday, February 28th, here’s what investors are expecting.

The information below is derived from data submitted to the Estimize.com platform by a set of Buy Side and Independent analyst contributors.image

(Click Here to see All Estimates for 3D Systems)

The current Wall Street consensus expectation is for DDD to report 22c EPS and $155.09M revenue, while the current Estimize.com consensus from 32 Buy Side and Independent contributing analysts is 29c EPS and $155.17M in revenue. This quarter the buy-side as represented by the Estimize.com community is expecting 3D Systems to beat the Wall Street consensus by 7c EPS and a tiny margin on revenue.

By tapping into a wider range of contributors including hedge-fund analysts, asset managers, independent research shops, students, and non professional investors Estimize has created a data set that is up to 69.5% more accurate than Wall Street, but more importantly it does a better job of representing the market’s actual expectations. It has been confirmed by an independent academic study from Rice University that stock prices tend to react with a more strongly associated degree to the expectation benchmark from Estimize than from the Wall Street consensus.

The magnitude of the difference between the Wall Street and Estimize consensus numbers often identifies opportunities to take advantage of expectations that may not have been priced into the market. In this case, we are seeing a wide differential on EPS.image

The distribution of estimates published by analysts on the Estimize.com platform range from 19c to 36c EPS and $149.00M to $159.58M in revenues. This quarter we’re seeing a wide distribution of estimates for 3D Systems.

The size of the distribution of estimates relative to previous quarters often signals whether or not the market is confident that it has priced in the expected earnings already. A wider distribution of estimates, signaling less agreement in the market, could mean greater volatility post earnings.image

Over the past 4 months, the Wall Street EPS consensus decreased from 33c to 22c while the Estimize consensus dropped from 33c to 29c at the end of the period. Over the same period of time, the Wall Street revenue consensus rose from $146.83M to $155.09M while the Estimize consensus increased from $143.75M to $155.17M. Timeliness is correlated with accuracy and at the end of the period we saw rising revenue expectations but falling EPS consensuses from both groups.image

The analyst with the highest estimate confidence rating this quarter is anmikyoso who projects 33c EPS and $154.84M in revenue. In the Winter 2014 season, anmikyoso is rated as the 35th best analyst and is ranked 31st overall among over 3,950 contributing analysts. Estimate confidence ratings are calculated through algorithms developed by deep quantitative research which looks at correlations between analyst track records and tendencies as they relate to future accuracy. In this case, anmikyoso is expecting 3D Systems to beat the Estimize consensus on EPS but come up less than $1 million shy on revenue.

3-D printing was a huge sector of growth in 2013. The technology has been around for a long time but 3D Systems will have to get in gear and meet the high expectations from contributing analysts on the Estimize.com platform to maintain current levels of valuation. This quarter, the Estimize community is expecting DDD to edge past Wall Street expectations in revenue and beat EPS expectations by 7c per share.

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>>> Ekso And 3-D Printing Have More In Common Than Just A Partnership




Feb. 21, 2014

About: EKSO, Includes: DDD, ONVO



http://seekingalpha.com/article/2039233-ekso-and-3-d-printing-have-more-in-common-than-just-a-partnership?source=yahoo



When I first started covering 3D printing companies 3D Systems (DDD) and Organovo (ONVO) back in September 2012, I was intrigued by their disruptive potential as "futuristic" technologies that were only heard of in science fiction movies. Since, both companies have returned a combined 600% due to the market realizing the disruptive potential of 3D printing. Ironically, the next disruptive technology I am captivated by also originates from science fiction. Certain related events led me to read up more on this miraculous bionic technology which is on the brink of overcoming paralysis.

Earlier this week, Yahoo published an interesting article on a real life "Iron Man" suit the US military was developing called TALOS. I read this article around the same time I watched the new remake of Robocop in theaters. The inner super hero fan in me was stunned at how these pipedream ideas were becoming reality. Soon after, 3D Systems announced a partnership with Ekso Bionics (OTCQB:EKSO) on the first hybrid robotic suit. Such coincidental events caused me to look further into Ekso and their operations.

What is EKSO?

Ekso Bionics has developed a wearable bionic suit (see below) which enables individuals with any lower extremity weakness (paralyzed) to stand up and walk. The suit is used to train people with neurological conditions such as stroke and traumatic brain injury to walk again. To my surprise, Ekso's breakthrough story has been covered by nationwide providers like CNN and Bloomberg. I highly urge you to watch the linked videos as they explain the concept of how the technology functions (note: Bloomberg video covers Ekso at 8min mark).


The company is currently solely focused on supplying the rehabilitation market with these bionic suits as there are already 22 centers in the US, 8 in Europe and 1 in S.Africa using Ekso. However, for comparison sake, there are 3500 rehab centers in the US alone that deal with spinal and brain injuries that could use Ekso. This equates to a 0.6% penetration of the market. Increased awareness is crucial in accessing these other facilities and more worldwide.

As exposure and awareness are raised, secondary markets such as the military and home markets, also present upside for the company. Ekso's partnership with Lockheed Martin, the world's largest military weapons manufacturer, will eventually bring in royalties of 4-6% as the suit is modified for military use. These expansion opportunities are expected to be pursued once the company has a larger share of rehab facilities.

Pioneering a New Industry

Ekso is creating a new bionic industry with its wearable robot technology that changes lives. The bionic technology is still in its infancy stages so it will not replace any wheelchairs just yet due to its slower speed. However, the experience of being able to stand and move is far more gratifying. With four evolutions in just two years, Ekso is continually upgrading the technology with the dream of having a mobility device that overcomes paralysis.

Ekso's story is reminiscent of Organovo when I first started following the bioprinting company. Both companies share a newly public listing and a disruptive technology that is ahead of its time. At the time, Organovo's NovoGen MMX bioprinter was highly criticized as a futuristic toy with no real functionality. Some skeptics even questioned the validity of the technology, claiming it wasn't real. Nearly two years later, partnerships and technological advancements have validated the bioprinter as one of the hottest technologies in healthcare. Now, Organovo has developed countless partnerships with renowned research institutions that want to test 3D printed tissue. With Organovo's first commercialized liver cell assay, expected sometime in late 2014, the company is close to realizing revenues and potential bottom line. Not only that, but Organovo is expanding their printing capabilities to additional tissues like the skin and kidney. A lot of progress has occurred in a matter of two years.

Operations Will Be Driven With Increased Awareness

Keeping in mind their respective industries, I believe Ekso is further in development than ONVO was in its infancy. In the first nine months of 2013, Ekso had revenues of $2.51M and net losses totaling $9.1M. As expected, like any developing stage company, Ekso is running at a loss. To compare, prior to going public, Ekso had already generated three quarter of the revenues that ONVO has since their inception ($3.3M). At this rate, Ekso's FY 2013 revenues will be around the same figure as ONVO's since inception. However, what is even more promising is that CEO Nathan Harding expects the company to turn in a profit within the next two years. On an absolute timeline, it seems that Ekso may be ahead of the bioprinting technology due to a stable and growing revenue stream as the product is already commercialized.

As company exposure spreads, I believe Ekso will see a valuation premium due to its exclusivity and leader status in the bionic industry. This similar premium has been applied to both ONVO and DDD, respective leaders in their fast growing industries.

Luckily, Ekso's problems are such that any company would love to have. Demand is currently not being met due to supply constraints. According to The Street's posted article, Ekso has a back-log of 18 suits on order with a 10-week time line delivery. Currently, 40 suits are in use, with 34 in rehab centers and six used by individuals.

To expand the reach of their wearable robot technology in the medium term, Ekso needs to bring down the cost and increase manufacturing efficiency. Currently, the suit is sold for as much as $150k. As the technology progresses, this hefty price is expected to drop to levels of a "high-end motorcycle", as CEO Harding puts it (at least 50% assuming price of Ducati).

With their recent 3D Systems collaboration, the company is focused on printing customized parts to not only cut costs, but also increase product exposure due to their affiliation with 3D printing. In my opinion, this move is tailored to long term growth as the company prepares to make the Ekso suit a widespread personalized product that is efficiently manufactured. After all, it only makes sense for next gen bionic technology to use next gen manufacturing techniques.

Financials to Sustain Operations for Foreseeable Future

As of February 17, 2014, the company had $16.7M in cash and no debt on their books. During the next two years, Ekso expects to spend approximately $9M on sales and marketing and an additional $10M in general administrative and R&D. With these expenditures, Ekso anticipates an increase in sales to rehabilitation hospital customers which could bypass further dilution. Most likely though, the company will seek further dilution, however this is not expected to occur within the next year. According to these projections, Ekso's burn rate would be approximately $2.5M/Q, which would leave the company financed for at least the next 12 months or until Q3 2015.

Ekso to Follow Trajectory of 3D Printing?

As Ekso matures its technology, I could see the company becoming the leader in a newly formed bionic industry. As the technology becomes smaller, faster and more efficient, its uses will enable people to overcome paralysis. Similar to how 3D Systems and Organovo have given birth to new disruptive industries, Ekso could follow the same growth trajectory that will be an investors' ticket to the next hot technology.

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ExOne -- >>> The Wall Street Transcript Interview with Steven Kent Rockwell, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the ExOne Company (XONE)



Wall Street Transcript

February 20, 2014



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-transcript-interview-steven-154200594.html



67 WALL STREET, New York - February 20, 2014 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its 2013 IPOs Report offering a timely review of companies new to the stock market. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth, detailed interviews with CEOs and senior executives of new public companies. The full issue is available by calling [phone] or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Companies include: ExOne Company (XONE), and many others.

In the following excerpt from the 2013 IPOs Report, the Chairman and CEO of the ExOne Company (XONE) gives a detailed strategic plan for his company for investors:

TWST: Could we begin with a brief overview of ExOne's business?

Mr. Rockwell: ExOne is currently in the business of providing 3D printing machines for industrial applications with a variety of material sets on a global basis. In addition to designing, making and selling the machines ourselves, we also have a service-bureau concept, which we call our production service centers or PSCs. In our PSCs, we take the output of our actual operating machines and then deliver the finished goods to our customers. Quite frequently, we find that by doing that, we're educating the customers as to the capability of the machines. That sometimes assists in the actual sale of a machine to a customer, because they want to be able to analyze the final product and the benefit of that product output.

TWST: Is the service bureau a newer part of your business or has that been around for a while?

Mr. Rockwell: In all honesty, in an innovative environment such as the one we're in where you've got basically a disruptive technology, inasmuch as most people don't know it - and it will change the way they do business - it's what we call the demand-push concept. With such a concept, you have to push the product out the door and get them to understand the value it presents to them as a service to make their business a better business. So we created the production service centers to augment the sale of machines.

In a small and innovative market like we are working in, we are also learning that you have to be strategically very adaptive, because we're now finding that some of those service markets actually have higher margins and better opportunities for us to sell services than to just sell machines. I've had other people in the industry that are really savvy say, "You know, you should never sell a single machine, you should only operate them for the customers." I don't think that's a viable concept in the industrial sector. Certainly, some of the major companies we're working with a lot are the Fortune 200 type companies, and they want to own the machines and do it themselves, including in the automotive sector. So it's a combination of the two.

TWST: Does the service bureau then allow you to reach a smaller-size customer than the machine sales do?

Mr. Rockwell: In certain cases, yes. If we do that, some of the smaller customers don't have to make the investment. And then there are certain large customers - such as Sikorsky, who's one of our bigger service-bureau customers right now - where they don't ever want to own anything. They only want to get the final finished component, the finished product that we can make, delivered to them in the most cost-advantageous and timely manner. There are certain customers that simply want to buy the output, and what we're learning is probably transitioning us more and more toward the service side of the business rather than the transactional side, which involves just selling the machine and then selling the services that go into that machine.

TWST: Are your competitors doing the same thing you're doing with metals, or is this something that you're doing and they have not done?

Mr. Rockwell: We're in a bit of a unique position, because competitively, we don't have anybody that's selling binder-jetting technology in the same manner that we are...

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>>> Ignore The 3D Printing Naysayers For Now




Feb. 19, 2014

Includes: DDD, ONVO, SSYS, XONE



http://seekingalpha.com/article/2030141-ignore-the-3d-printing-naysayers-for-now?source=yahoo



Towards the end of 2013, I was probably one of the most optimistic people on the 3D printing space, and perhaps I still am. I assumed that a combination of robotics and 3D printing could displace manufacturing labor, and I'm glad to see that some industry insiders agree with me.

The feedback from the reader base was both strong and positive. Heck, I convinced the naysayers, and earned a bit of a reputation for predictive analysis.

How I arrived at my current conclusion

I believe the potential market opportunity for 3D printing and robotics is approximately $3.4 trillion on the basis of global GDP. I arrive at this figure by calculating the amount an average company spends on capital expenditure and manufacturing labor. By applying the percentage of cost to the global GDP figure, I was able to arrive at a somewhat decent conclusion as to the market potential of 3D printing and robotics.

According to the Motley Fool:

“
Now according to Wilfried Vancraen, the CEO of Belgium-based Materialise was quoted saying how 3-D printing could eventually represent up to 30% of the manufacturing industry. Thinking in terms of worldwide manufacturing GDP, this would imply that the 3-D printing economy could one day be worth more than $3 trillion in worldwide GDP.

I arrived at fairly similar numbers; now I'm not sure if these guys are basing their assessment on some variation of what I wrote several months ago. But I'm very confident about my original assessment on 3D printing. There's no denying the growth potential, and by 2025, I think that as the technology continues to advance, it will unlock market opportunities, therefore accelerating growth. This is something I try to address with this chart below.

In the beginning stages, it looks like any other overly-hyped investment opportunity. However, it becomes increasingly obvious to me that as the marginal cost of production declines from 3D printers, the adoption rate should increase. Also, I'm doubtful that consumer application of the device will displace online retail companies or any e-commerce for quite a while. This is because 3D printing devices have been around for quite a while, and for all the hype that surrounds the concept, it's not going to be cost effective enough to make Chinese labor factories or Amazon.com (AMZN) obsolete anytime soon.

What you will find is that 3D printing in a manufacturing setting will produce hard to find parts, or digitally print layer by layer things that are exceptionally difficult to produce with standard manufacturing. While $95 billion sounds like a breathtaking figure, when compared to global manufacturing GDP, it's actually a drop in the bucket. Therefore, investors should be wary of articles that try to proclaim that there's limited growth, or somehow every quarter from a 3D printing company needs to perfect.

Sure, some have correctly identified that for the stock price to not drop, it may need to meet analysts' earnings estimates. But even if some of the 3D printer names miss earnings [3D Systems (DDD), Stratasys (SSYS), and ExOne (XONE)], I wouldn't jump off the train and miss the multi-decade trend that is starting to form.

Also, I can understand the skepticism investors have towards 3D printed organs. Unfortunately, companies like Organovo (ONVO) are way too young, and the technology to print organs is way too far off to be considered a viable investment opportunity at the present moment.

Conclusion

I don't think it's time to jump off the 3D printing train. The technology hasn't reached maturity yet, and there are plenty of opportunities in manufacturing that are yet to be uncovered.

Traditional 3D printing players like 3D Systems and Stratasys have a massive portfolio of patents, and competing with them will be no easy task. Assuming successful competitors like Hewlett Packard (HPQ) were to emerge, the industry as a whole would actually grow as a result. I believe that added competition won't negate the earnings potential of pre-existing 3D printing companies by much. Rather, competition may drive product development, and thus accelerate the growth of pre-existing companies further.

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