This New Trend in Printing a Boon for Tech Investors?

One of the stock market’s hottest initial public offerings (IPOs) this year is voxeljet AG (VJET), which is a German manufacturer of industrial 3D-printing systems. This small but growing micro-cap recently sold 6.5 million American depositary shares (ADS) for $13.00 each, raising $64.5 million after fees. The rest of the proceeds went to selling shareholders.

On its first day of trading last week, the position opened at approximately $24.50 and is now near $39.00. This incredibly strong action reveals just how attractive 3D printing is becoming to the eyes of institutional investors. It’s definitely a bright spot for stock market traders. A whole new industry is being formed right now.

Voxeljet is the latest IPO related to 3D printing, following The ExOne Company XONE. We looked at ExOne recently after the position pulled back on the stock market. The company’s shares experienced a strong reversal at the beginning of October and are now settling around the $50.00 mark. (See “Wall Street Lowered Expectations for This Stock, But It Got NASA’s Attention.”)

Wall Street expects ExOne’s sales to grow an average consensus of approximately 68% to $48.0 million this year. Sales are expected to grow another 50% in 2014, as the company turns profitable.

There are still only a handful of 3D-printing companies that trade on the stock market. There is 3D Systems Corporation DDD, out of Rock Hill, South Carolina. And then there’s also Stratasys Ltd. SSYS, out of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, whose 3D-printing machines are used to create prototype parts, mostly serving the manufacturing sectors, including automotive, aerospace, computer, and defense customers.

In terms of stock market performance, 3D Systems has outperformed the group. The stock is very pricey, but it illustrates the desire that investors have to bid up this developing industry.

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