Been about a year since GE came along .... I have owned Arcam for something like two years buying shares up until the acquisition. I have since trimmed my position at various times but Arcam is still a very significant holding for me.
Curious if anyone out there has changed their minds better/worse in terms of Arcam as an investment. If I had to offer a few impressions about Arcam in terms of what I have observed/concluded over the past year it would be this ...
1) The adoption of industrial metal 3D printing (certainly at the level of final product production) is going slower than I was expecting or hoping.
2) For now at least, EBM does not seem to be capturing market share from Laser
3) GE does not seem to be at all in a rush to push EBM technology - though it seems GE is very focused on developing the technology of their laser tech acquisition. Given my understanding of the benefits of EBM over laser particularly in aerospace, and given GE's position in aerospace, I find it surprising and disappointing that GE seems to be more focused on developing their 3D laser technology (e.g., I believe they are developing a very large printer based on Concept laser's technology... their other 3D printer acquisition)
4) GE has not done anything to indicate that they are mindful of the interests of the shareholders who own 25% of the company. Not saying that I think they should have done anything or that our interests are their responsibility. Just saying I have not seen anything to give me the warm fuzzies.
My tendency is to think that it could be some time before Arcam starts hitting home runs and that continued investment Arcam might be dead money ... at least for say another year. I am still holding and will continue to hold. But I might trim back a bit more than I already have.
Please spare us and the members of this board. Not interested in hearing "I told you so." The company and the stock price could have gone either way after the the GE aquisition. It has not turned out the way I hoped, but I do not in any way feel I made a mistake by holding onto Arcam. Give me the same circumstances and I would do it again. Only interested in what people think about Arcam moving forward.
Thoughts?
Thanks to all who continue to share on this board.
