Shares of leading 3D printing public companies are up over the last 3 months. 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) is up 19%, Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) is up 12% and Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) is up 2%. The combined market cap of those 3 companies is now over $5 billion.

Compare the performance of these 3D printing stocks (up 9.5%) to the slight decline of the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASAQ indices. Even though 3D printing is currently at the top of the “hype cycle“, it looks like investors are being rewarded for their early support of the industry.

In this video, Motley Fool analyst Blake Bos discusses some of the key recent events for 3D Systems and Stratasys:

• 3D Systems fought allegations over accounting irregularity
• 3D Systems sued Form Labs on patent infringement
• Stratasys released 16 new non-metal materials
• Stratasys announced a new Objet 3D printer

3D printing pioneer startup MakerBot has outgrown its headquarters and is moving to One MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn’s tech triangle. It’s neighbors? Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

MakerBot founder Bre Pettis told the Wall Street Journal, ”We’re going to put the tech in Metrotech, literally,” in a feature that shared some of the company’s early history:

MakerBot was founded in a “hacking collective” called NYC Resistor, at 397 Bridge St. Mr. Pettis and his partners, Adam Mayer and Zach Smith, quit their jobs in 2009 and locked themselves in a room with caffeine and a case of ramen until they came out with a prototype for a 3-D printer.

Since that time, MakerBot has grown to over 125 employees and is now in need of new headquarters.

Our only hope is that MakerBot’s new Wall Street neighbors take the opportunity to visit and try out 3D printing for themselves. Maybe they will be inspired to help finance this revolutionary industry.

Via Wall Street Journal.

In the last few weeks, we have seen consolidation in the 3D printing space. Public companies are combining with startups, acquiring niche players, and increasing their market capitalizations through M&A.

Below are two charts, courtesy of Kapitall, that show market caps and prices over time of 3D printing giants: 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) and Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS).

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in market cap for DDD and SSYS:

Interactive Chart: Use the Turbo Chart to compare the stock performance of DDD and SSYS against the Standard & Poor 500 index (SPX):

Stock Market image used under Creative Commons from Marcos Fernandez Diaz.