Tag Archives: investment
Infographic: 3D Printing and the Future of Manufacturing by Sculpteo
3D printing service Sculpteo published a great infographic called “3D printing is the future of manufacturing.”
Highlights:
- The Third Industrial Revolution
- What is 3D printing?
- Manufacture in one click
- The range of 3D printing materials
- What does it change for your VC or CEO?
- How to integrate 3D printing into your business today? Invest in 3D printing or integrate a cloud solution
- New markets have access to manufacturing
- New major players
- And your consumers
- A case study: 3DPCase
Via Sculpteo blog.
Setting Up and Running a Fab Lab: Primer, History, and Recommendations
Everything you wanted to know about setting up a Fab Lab is detailed in this document by Fabien Eychenne.
This broad overview covers these topics from a global perspective:
- History of Fab Labs
- Physical space configuration
- Services and pricing
- Fab Lab teams
- Prototypes
- Group projects
- Art projects
- Structure and organization
- Investment budget
- Machines and equipment
3D Printing Presents Long-Term Threat to Otherwise Healthy Toy Stocks
Back in April, we discussed how 3D printing could disrupt the toy industry, and in May featured a story about a father printing the Rosetta stone for kids toys.
The analysts at Seeking Alpha have put together an interesting perspective of how an otherwise appealing dividend growth stock might be a failed investment because of the emergence of 3D printing. The stock is Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS), the owner of brands such as Tonka, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony.
As an investor who is interested in dividends, I look at these metrics to begin my analysis.
- Dividend: $1.44
- Yield: 4.1%
- 5 yr. DGR: 17.2%
- Payout Ratio: 44%
- Debt Coverage Ratio: 6.1
This is just a quick peek at a few data points, but upon deeper analysis, the company looks relatively healthy with plenty of room to increase its dividend in the near term. Additionally, the recent success of the Avengers movie is expected to translate into revenue for Hasbro. What has me worried is the future of the company five to ten years out. Why? 3-D printing.
The analyst goes on to say that once 3D printing becomes ubiquitous, it will become a threat to traditional toy makers, and we won’t be able to get the genie back in the bottle. He cites some examples of 3D printed substitutes and complements.
- The following is a video of a student at a community college who created a STAR WARS TIE Fighter. There are 2 important additional points to note: Hasbro owns the rights to sell STAR WARS toys, etc. I don’t believe that this is an exact/scanned replica because it is not as detailed as the real one would be.
- Soon, owners of Microsoft’s (MSFT) XBOX Kinect will be able to use it to scan objects and create 3-D models. This will make it very easy to create the schematic (instructions) that the printer needs.
- Also, the Pirate Bay (an illegal file-sharing website that has successfully fought against being shut down) recently created a section for sharing the 3-D schematics. There are already a number of possible cases of patent infringement. The Huffington Post notes one case where someone has shared a file that is probably a copy of a “Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Dreadnought.”
In my eyes, this is just the first evidence of what will be gaining speed throughout the next couple of years.
Read the full article at Seeking Alpha.
Read more coverage about 3D printing and toys.
Hasbro booth photo by Gage Skidmore used under Creative Commons license.
3D Printing Stocks are Hot: Top Public Companies Up 180% Over 6 Months
There are a small number of public companies in the 3D printing industry today. The leading stocks are 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD), Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS), and Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB). The chart above shows a 6-month comparison of this aggregate 3D printing portfolio vs. the S&P, Dow Jones, and NASDAQ. 3D printing names are up over 180%.
The 3D printing industry, also known as additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, is at an inflection point.
Where to Invest?
For those looking to consider an investment in 3D printing stocks, Seeking Alpha’s analysis of the leading companies can be helpful.
First a reality check on the current state of the market.
Unfortunately the concept has limited commercial production capabilities and material challenges. Over time, these will naturally become less and less of a problem. For now though, several sectors such as aviation parts and medical devices can benefit greatly from the ability to RP. Not to mention, any wealthy person that wants to make their own iPhone case at home.
Then an analysis of each stock. Excerpts below:
3D Systems is leading the 3D printing market, but unfortunately investors missed the golden opportunity to buy back at the end of December when the stock still traded around $15. It now fetches over $30.
With a forward PE of 23, the stock trades roughly in line with the expected growth rate. While not cheap, it isn’t expensive and actually provides a solid earnings profile unlike most of the recent IPOs in the hot sectors of social media and cloud computing.
Stratasys provides another option in 3D printing, but the stock has likewise more than doubled since the lows back in October of last year. The company recently released the Mojo 3D Printer which is the market’s lowest-priced professional-grade complete 3D printing system priced at $9,900.
This stock trades at a richer valuation than 3D Systems with a forward PE of over 30. The company also only reported 30% revenue growth for Q112 while analysts only forecast 15% long term growth.
The recent announced merger with Objet is expected to launch Stratasys into a leadership position in the 3D Printing market. The combined company will rival the $1.5B market cap of 3D Systems along with the revenue size.
Proto Labs is an alternative investing option in 3D rapid prototyping and manufacturing short-runs of real parts. The company went public back in February, but the stock appears to have a similar pricey multiple as the 3D printing sector.
The company reported 34% revenue growth and a solid 25.5% operating margin. At a forward PE of 29, the company trades in the range of its long term growth rate. With revenue expectations of around $127M for 2012, the company remains relatively small.
Read the full analysis at Seeking Alpha.
Disclaimer: Please consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
The Motley Fool Reviews the 3D Printing Market
Investment advice site The Motley Fool posted a review of the emerging 3D printing industry. Naturally their attention turned to the performance of public companies in the space.
Objet inc. has recently filed for an IPO valuing itself at $500,000,000 with the last years of revenues topping $150,000,000. Object is one of the biggest 3D printing companies although there are many already trading on the exchanges. Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) is the maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping manufacturing and making plastic parts. Stratasys has a market capitalization of 771 million dollars with a P/E of 38.03. 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) is a manufacturer of 3D printing software and the printers themselves. The company has 1.36 billion market capitalization with a P/E of 35.21.
Expect more IPOs in this space!
Read more at The Motley Fool.
