Our friends at ALL3DP recently asked us for an analysis of stock quotations for 3D printing companies that are traded publicly. We looked at 3D printing stock performances for the past five years (some have only been traded for less than two) and discovered that there might be no better time to buy. If you want to believe, that is.
Like all tech bubbles, 3D printing stock has been a bloodbath for many investors. However, that was not entirely a surprise since late 2013/mid-2014 spike perfectly reflects the predictions that data analysis firm Gartner made for 3D printing and for all new technologies in general.
We are currently at the bottom of the deflationary period that ensues from discovering the limits of new technology. Gartner predicts that this period is followed by a “plateau of productivity”, that is organic and less jittery but continues growth.
Companies like 3D System and Stratasys are close to their all-time low. So are companies that debuted on the market during the bubble, such as ExOne, voxeljet and even Materialise which followed some time after. Other ones, like Alphaform, are now worth as little as €0,016 (after the company declared bankruptcy). The market as a whole is very uncertain so that will weigh down on 3D printing stocks as well in the upcoming months.
However, the difficulties that 3D printing stocks are experiencing is similar to that experienced by another innovative and potentially disruptive company such as Tesla Motors, with business going great and financial performance doing exactly the opposite. Most 3D printing companies are still making money.
