3D Systems (DDD), the infamous additive manufacturing company, reported the results of its second quarter after the bell yesterday, topping estimates.

The manufacturer of 3D printers managed to post revenue of $176.6 million, up 10.7% year-over-year. The Street was modeling for revenue of $165.9 million. Earnings also came ahead of analysts’ consensus as 3D Systems reported earnings per share of 6 cents compared to the Street’s consensus of just 1 cent.

For the third quarter, Wall Street is anticipating sales to reach roughly $164 million, up 7%. For the full year of 2018, the revenue of the additive manufacturing company

Sigma Labs Inc. (SGLB) – the provider of quality assurance technologies for 3-D printing – is flying high on its new closed-loop feedback control technology for additive manufacturing.

On Wednesday, Sigma Labs disclosed it has developed and demonstrated closed-loop feedback control for the metal laser powder bed fusion 3-D printing process.

“Automatic feedback process control was the next step in completing Sigma Labs’ suite of sensing, monitoring, and control capabilities of metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Our addition of real-time process control clearly sets Sigma as the leader in AM process quality assurance,” Mark Cola, CTO of Sigma Labs, noted

Materialise (MTLS) is a technology company that belongs to the industry of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. The company is involved in the provision of proprietary 3D printing software and 3D printing manufacturing solutions, primarily for the medical and automotive industry.

The company offers surgical planning software for the medical industry alongside offering customized implants for orthopedic/cranio-maxillofacial use-cases. On the printing-services side, Materialise produces medical devices, prototypes and production parts for several use cases including medical and automotive. Materialise was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Leuven, Belgium.

Revenue insights

The company operates through

During the week, several 3D printing companies reported their earnings with Stratasys (SSYS) posting disappointing results. 3D Systems (DDD) also reported mixed results.

One trend that is becoming clear is that service providers are benefiting from the growth of 3D printing while printer manufactures continue to struggle.

Stratasys earnings

Stratasys, one of the leading 3D printing companies, posted disappointing quarterly results. Revenue declined 5.7% year-over-year to reach $153.8 million. Revenue was short of analysts’ consensus of $167.5 million. Earnings also fell short of estimates as the company posted 5 cents in earnings per share. Wall Street was looking for 9

3D Systems (DDD) continues to be volatile. The stock jumped on better than expected earnings recently, only to retreat later. The company reported its quarterly earnings last month, beating the revenue and earnings consensus. Revenue grew 6.8% year-over-year to reach $165.9 million. Analysts were modeling for revenue of $163.5 million. Earnings per share came in at 5 cents. While earnings per share growth came ahead of analyst consensus, the company registered a decline as non-GAAP earnings per share stood at 15 cents during the same quarter last year. The stock soared 10% to a high of $13 on the day

U.S. markets were in positive territory on Thursday, with the Dow hitting 25,000 points.

Shares of 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) rose on the heels of the company reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of five cents. The company’s revenue grew 6.8% from the prior-year quarter to $177.26 million.

The company's revenue was boosted by its performance in health care, materials, software and on-demand manufacturing. Demand was fueled by strong execution in the Europe, Middle East and Africa markets and improved execution in the Americas and Asia.

Further, the company reported gross

3D Systems (DDD) continues to nosedive as the stock lost 25% of its market cap during the last month. Disappointing earnings results was the primary reason for the poor stock performance. Despite several positive developments including launching of a new printing platform, contract extension with Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW:XTER) and positive sentiment from Piper Jaffray, 3D Systems is struggling to trend upwards.

The company missed both the top line and bottom line consensus guidance. EPS was in the red. Analysts were modeling for an EPS of 12 cents. Revenue performance was no different. The company missed revenue consensus by $10

3D Systems Corp. (DDD), one of the manufacturers of 3-D printers, plunged on Friday. The stock was down 9% on news that HP Inc. (HPQ) is entering the metal printing business in 2018. Fellow 3-D printing company Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) was also down around 6% on the same day.

Since hitting all-time highs during the 3-D printing hype in 2013, 3-D printing companies have been in a downward spiral. Both Stratasys and 3D Systems failed to materialize on the touted growth prospects of the industry.

What precipitated the recent decline?

The recent downturn was ignited by the competition fears from

U.S. market indexes were higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,661.64 for a gain of 19.97 points or 0.09%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,537.74 for a gain of 3.16 points or 0.12%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,534.63 for a gain of 2.91 points or 0.04%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 9.69 for a gain of 0.18 points or 1.89%.

Wednesday’s market movers

All three of the leading indexes reported another day of new highs. Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:

• The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index decreased -0.4%.

After reaching bubble territory in 2013, 3-D printing stocks edged lower consistently over the next few years to reach a bottom in 2016. With the likes of 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) and Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) trading sideways for the last few months, I think it is safe to assume the stocks have seen a bottom for now.

Going forward, I think investors should stay away from the sector as the lack of profitability on account of increased competition and flat revenue growth still makes the sector too expensive to own.

Stratasys released its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings on March 9, reporting

3D Systems (DDD) was on a great run in 2017 as the stock had risen considerably on the back of several rumors. While the rise was impressive, it set 3D Systems up for failure as the company has a record of sharing bad quarterly results. With the stock having appreciated roughly 20%, 3D Systems had to deliver an outstanding quarter to keep the rally alive. However, the company’s earnings report made it certain that the stock will fall back under $15 soon enough.

3D Systems released its quarterly earnings last month. It reported fourth-quarter EPS of 15 cents, beating the

Three-dimensional printing has been the topic of discussion for much of the last four to five years, with the majority of this debate being focused on what changes 3-D printing might bring to our daily lives. Discussions have ranged from health care to manufacturing to even redesigning and producing 3-D printed cars. This is all great talk, but while many uses have been covered already, there is still a huge chunk left to mull over. This is why Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) and 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) remain appealing options for investors.

Stratasys is braced to announce its financial results for

3D Systems Corp. (DDD) has been on a terrific run in 2017 with the stock up almost 30% year to date. Although the company had a great 2016, appreciating over 52% throughout the year, it appears the stock is already on track to surpass last year’s run. While the company’s fundamentals have not changed, 3D Systems rallied on the back of strong acquisition rumors in 2017.

Given that 3D Systems in still unprofitable and has hit the growth ceiling however, I think investors should use the current rally to exit their positions. I do not expect the stock to perform

Pricewaterhouse Cooper estimates 67% of manufacturers are already using 3-D printing. Of these, 28.9% are experimenting to determine how 3-D printing can be optimally integrated into their production processes, while 24.6% are using 3-D printing for prototyping.

The size of the global market, including 3-D printer sales, materials and associated services, is predicted to reach $16.2 billion by 2018, per independent research company Canalys. Further, top international data analyst Gartner has identified 3-D printing as one of the top 10 technology trends in 2016.

Gartner states that the growing range of 3-D printable materials will drive a compound annual

(Print the Legend, Netflix)

The International Data Corporation recently predicted that worldwide three-dimensional (3-D) printing sales are to double by 2020. This would represent an annual compound growth rate of some 24.1% if met. In return, 3-D printing companies returned flat post-announcement on Aug. 19.

(MakerBot 3-D printer in 2014, CNBC)

In fiscal year 2015, the leading 3-D printing companies in current times were Stratasys (SSYS) with 34% global market share, 3D Systems (DDD) with 16%, EOS (privately held German company) with 13%, SLM Solutions (AM3D) with 4%

Three-dimension printing stocks have rallied hard over the last few weeks. The likes of 3D Systems (DDD) and Stratasys (SSYS) are up substantially from their all-time lows. The rally was driven by better-than-expected results and improved guidance. Having been beaten down for almost two years, a small rally in 3D printing stocks was long overdue.

However, the recent rally has been overdone, and investors need to make the most of it by selling the stocks. For instance, 3D Systems has rallied over 150% in just a few weeks because the company marginally improved its guidance and delivered better results.

Out

3D printing stocks have rallied strongly over the last few weeks. Better-than-expected earnings and guidance from many 3D printing companies have contributed to the significant rise of the entire sector. While I understand why the likes of 3D Systems (DDD) and Stratasys (SSYS) rallied, even though I don’t expect the rallies to last, I find the rise of ExOne (XONE) groundless.

The stock has rallied on the news of other 3D printing companies reporting strong sales. ExOne will be an exception to that trend and investors can benefit from the rally by shorting the stock.

ExOne has never beaten estimates