Jefferies Comments On 3D Printing Companies Following Industry Conference

Jason North of Jefferies recently attended Euromold, the largest 3D printing industry conference in the world. The analyst met with management teams from many notable 3D Printing companies and detailed his findings in a note on Monday.

According to North the entire industry is gaining momentum in metal 3D printing, but is experiencing “limited visibility” into SLS speed improvements. The analyst adds that the runway for prototyping is longer than consensus expects, but the ramp of full manufacturing for 3D printing is "likely further away."

North states that Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ now has a "bigger seat at the table" and that he is "incrementally more positive" on the company's 3D printing efforts.

"We do not see fundamental technical issues and think Hewlett-Packard's main hurdles have more to do with execution of its go-to-market strategy, product commercialization and ecosystem development," North wrote.

Notable Company Mentions

Arcam's AMAVF product offerings represents a "mixed plate" as its 10kW new product may not be as fast as initially expected and may not launch in the second quarter. On the other hand, the analyst notes that his checks suggest General Electric Company GE has recently started full testing of the EBM-produced low-pressure turbine blades which are "going well so far."

Proto Labs Inc PRLB continues to "clean its plate" as the company's management identified areas where it could assume additional investments in marketing to accelerate growth.

Stratasys, Ltd. SSYS detailed its product announcement prior to the conference but did expand on expanded distribution agreement with Staples and Home Depot for its MakerBot.

3D Systems Corporation DDD new ProX 400 was "by far the largest printer" at the show, according to North. The analyst suspects that the company is "gradually shifting" the sourcing of its jetting nozzles from an external supplier to the technology it recently acquired from Xerox.