3D-Printing Stocks: An Epic Breakdown (DDD), (SSYS)

By Greg Guenthner Feb 4, 2015, 1:46 PM 

You might want to take that busted 3D printer you wasted all that money on and chuck it out the window.

That’s because 3D-printing stocks are absolutely getting pistol-whipped right now. They’re done.

So today we’re looking at a different kind of tech stock shaping up for a nice bounce…

Sure, the 3D printers were the darlings of traders and investors alike just over a year ago, but now these stocks have one foot in the grave. And the other’s close behind.

Industry superstar 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE:DDD) dropped as much as 8% yesterday. Not long ago, DDD was one of the best performing names on the market. But over the past 12 months, this stock has dropped more than 60%.

And DDD isn’t alone. Joining in the death spiral is Stratasys Inc. (NASDAQ:SSYS). After announcing profits would probably miss the mark again, the stock tanked more than 30% yesterday.

“The maker of 3D printers now expects to earn $2.07 to $2.24 on revenues of around $950 million. Wall Street had been looking for something more along the lines of $2.91 on $1.01 billion,” Yahoo! Finance reports. “About a year ago Stratasys shares were over $130. Now that they’re off by more than 60%, no one wants it any more.”

That’s the understatement of the century, my man. Maybe two centuries.

Yup, the hype cycle finally got the 3D printers. We saw it coming early last year—and we’ve tracked their downward trajectory ever since.

You see, most industry experts claim consumer 3D printing is at least five years away from mainstream adoption. Others say it’ll be even longer. But these 3D printing startups were too busy cashing in to worry about meeting expectations. So when these stocks hit the skids just a few months ago, investors were blindsided.

“And of course, the financial media had guzzled the Kool-Aid, no questions asked,” I told you back in October. “3D printers were THE next thing.”

Good times will eventually come for these stocks. Heck, you’ll probably get the chance to buy them back one day. But for now, the hype cycle has claimed another victim. You can stick a 3D-printed fork in ‘em. So…you know what I’m gonna say next: Don’t try to catch these falling knives. Just don’t.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.