Imperial Capital Sees Multi-dimensional Opportunity for 3D Systems, Adds to Best Ideas List

On Thursday, Imperial Capital's Equity and Industry Analysis team presented a list of Best Ideas in Equity Research with companies representing an average upside of 32 percent. Imperial Capital included

on it's list, initiating coverage with an Outperform rating and $60.00 price target on Wednesday. Imperial Capital analyst Ashok Kumar initiated coverage on the company yesterday, noting that 3D Systems is the overall leader with a 25 percent share of the worldwide 3D market, according to Imperial's data. The analyst wrote, "3D Systems continues to maintain its leadership position in the additive manufacturing ecosystem through internal developments, acquisitions, and relationships with third parties. The company's product development programs are focused on providing customers with the most comprehensive portfolio of 3D content-toprint solutions, targeting their entire design-to-manufacturing requirements, from desktop prototyping to fab-grade manufacturing." Kumar added that long-term opportunity is "intact" as company has tremendous growth opportunities in offering affordable 3D printing solutions in automotive, healthcare, education, architecture, aerospace, MCAD, and consumer marketplaces. Although 3D Systems services and strong financial growth provides strength, the analyst sees a constrain in near term growth due to an increase in product investment and distribution. Imperial Capital continued, "Professional 3D print technology is expected to continue to evolve and improve beyond 2017, and perhaps will even live up to some of the hype. New materials such as those that are impregnated with carbon nanofiber, titanium, and other metals are expected to play a role in further adoption of the 3D printing technology in the professional market. IDC also expects partnering to become very important in the professional market." On Thursday, the company shipped more than two dozen on its ProX Series Direct Metal printers to automotive tire manufacturers to aid in the innovation of complex tread molds development. Shares of 3D Systems Corp. closed at $47.34 on Wednesday and are currently trading at $50.75, up more than 7.2 percent.