3D Systems (DDD), one of the two publicly traded 3D printer companies I’ve recommended buying and holding several times on these pages, is soaring this morning on sales that have exceeded expectations, and on an update of their future outlook.
The stock price gapped up at the open and as of this writing is up about 18%, or $6.32 at $42.24. This comes on the heels of a widely-read negative article at Seeking Alpha, called 3D Systems: At The Peak Of Inflated Expectations, which placed a price target in the single digits, written by someone short the stock. Oops. I know other blogs on 3D printing love to quote articles from Seeking Alpha, but must warn you: be very careful reading any Seeking Alpha article — anyone can publish there if they can put sentences together well enough. You do not need to be an analyst, be in the business or have any other knowledge qualification.
Shares of Stratasys, the other 3D printing stock you should own, are up in sympathy. The stock price currently is up 7.35% to $66.18.
Here’s Briefing.com out with some immediate information:
3D Systems beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides FY12 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus Reports Q3 (Sep +0.23%, news) earnings of $0.32 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.27; revenues rose 57.4% year/year to $90.5 mln vs the $87.29 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $1.20-1.30 vs. $1.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate and above prior guidance of $1.00-1.25; sees FY12 revs of $345-365 mln vs. $343.52 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate and above prior guidance of $330-360 mln.
With regard to its outlook, co states: “Cube 3D printer orders continue to exceed our expectations, and are now available for next day shipment,” continued Reichental. “While we still don’t expect revenue from our consumer growth initiative to be material to our revenue for the remainder of 2012, we are very pleased with the overall reception…We entered the fourth quarter with positive sales momentum that is further strengthened by our recently acquired Rapidform products and channel. While we may face lingering economic uncertainties in parts of the world, we expect to continue to benefit from robust R&D spending by our customers worldwide.”
Interesting to see that the Cube 3D printer is exceeding expectations. If they want to keep that up, though, they better beef it up and lower the price, as competitors are everywhere and coming on strong.
Congratulations to all other longs on DDD. Disclosure: I am still long DDD and SSYS, and intend to stay that way for the long haul, until they are — in my opinion — both ultimately bought out.
When the transcript of the Conference Call becomes available we’ll update the article with it.
