3D Systems
will.i.am.
Tech investors with 3D printing shares in their portfolio are playing the waiting game. Waiting for MTLS to materialise on the NASDAQ, waiting for H1/Q2 results to be released, waiting for the next big acquisition. 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) once again succeeded in making the biggest stories of the week.
The new EKOCYCLE Cube, a joint project between 3D Systems and Coca-Cola, led by the 3D printing industry giant's new Chief Creative Officer will.i.am, may not have excited investors as much as the news of Co-Founder and Executive Vice-President Chuck Hull's decision to sell 7,500 shares. Meanwhile, ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) has been busy working away more quietly, by announcing key European expansions, while Arcam (SS:ARCAM) has received two significant orders for its hefty additive manufacturing systems in the last eight days.
3D Systems
3D Systems closed lower last night (June 19th), slipping by 0.8 per cent on the New York Stock Exchange to $53.22 per unit. 3D Systems share prices appear to have stabilised after the post-New Year slide that affected all major 3D printing stock.
Investors may have pricked their ears up at the news Chuck Hull sold 7,500 shares of the company in the open market on Monday (June 16th), at an average price of $50.41 per share. The transaction amounts to $378,075 and following the sale, the Grandfather of 3D printing now owns 136,500 shares in 3D Systems worth around $6,880,965.
Although the company is no longer teetering above its 52-week low of $41.05, it remains a long way off its year-high of $97.28 and it seems increasingly unlikely it will break the $100 glass ceiling this year.
Stratasys
Mimicking its rival, Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) closed 0.8 per cent lower on the NASDAQ yesterday, slipping to $101.62 per unit after its week-long rally that ended on June 18th.
This week the industry giant announced it has commenced shipping the new MakerBot Replicator Z18 3D printer, which crashed onto the scene at International CES 2014 back in January as a larger desktop 3D printing system offering users a build volume of 30.5 cm X 30.5 cm X 45.7 cm in height. The $6,499 machine is due to take between six and eight weeks to reach buyers if they order this week, with MakerBot targeting engineers, architects and educators.
ExOne
ExOne has had a quiet first half, suffering much in the same way after the New Year as 3D Systems and Stratasys on the stock market. Nevertheless, the company has a clear growth trajectory and is not known for having a particularly hysterical marketing strategy.
Under the calm industrial exterior, ExOne's feet have been paddling away, as this week the company announced it is set to open a combined production services centre and machine sales centre in Italy, broadening its European reach. Due to open in August 2014, the Italian facility will be ExOne's second in Europe (it already has one in Germany). The company also has five production services centres in the US and one in Japan.
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At close of play in New York yesterday, ExOne's share price was rallying by 3.3 per cent to $32.05, regaining valuable lost ground after hitting its $25.50 nadir in spring.
Arcam
Arcam opened higher on the NASDAQ OMX today, rallying to kr205.50 from yesterday's kr202.00 close.
The industrial 3D printing company has been making steady progress since the end of May, enjoying a prolonged rally, perhaps on news of recent orders for its large-scale 3D printing systems.
Recently, Arcam received orders from Israel and the British aerospace giant GKN Aerospace for its machines. On June 12th, the company revealed that GKN - which bought its first EBM machine in late 2012 - how now placed its third order with the Swedish industry powerhouse. One week later and Arcam made it known that the Israel Institute of Technology places an order for an Arcam A2X. Both orders will help to pad Arcam's bottom line for the end of the year at least.
voxeljet
Finally, voxeljet (NASDAQ:VJET) has maintained its week-long rally to $16.02, but taking a step back and examining how the share price has plunged since spiking to $68.37 one month after it started trading on the stock market and it is hard to feel buoyant.
Nevertheless, the company is continuing to focus on its international operations, appointing a new General Manager of its US industrial 3D printing service centre this month.
