3D Printing Is Hot Right Now - Here Are Four Companies to Watch
3D printing and related fields in scanning and modeling have seen a phenomenal boost recently. There remain big questions about the rise of 3D printing, and whether or not we are witnessing a bubble that will soon burst, but most of these questions and forecasts focus on consumer adoption, or prototyping alone -- but the big value in 3D is in printing final parts.
“The production of parts for final products is expected to far surpass prototyping applications for 3D-printed parts,” says Tim Caffrey, senior consultant at Wohlers Associates, one of the leading firms studying 3D printing (additive manufacturing) and its impact.
According to Caffrey, this is because the ratio of prototypes to production parts is often 1:1,000 or greater. He says, “The money is in manufacturing, not prototyping. The opportunity for more commercial production activity from additive manufacturing is immense.
It took the 3D printing industry 20 years to reach $1 billion in size. In five additional years, the industry generated its second $1 billion. It is expected to double again, to $4 billion, by 2015.
In four years, Wohlers Associates believes that the sale of 3D printing products and services will approach $6 billion worldwide. By 2021, the company forecasts the industry to reach as high as $10.8 billion.
The following four companies, which have seen excellent gains over the last 12-24 months, are among those to watch: Autodesk, Stratasys, 3D Systems, and Dassault Systemes.
Autodesk: 3D printing is amazing, but you can’t print if you don’t have a digital file, a computer modeled version that communicates with the printer itself. That’s where AutoCAD and Inventor software from Autodesk come into play. The company supports major industries, inventors, entrepreneurs, and even consumers with its apps and full suite of software. It has seen a 40 percent gain in the last 12 months, 63 percent over 24 months.
Stratasys: With its acquisition of MakerBot, the company leaped into the consumer market, or at least the professional amateur (pro-am) market. Already a dominant player in large-scale, high-end 3D printers, they have seen a 60 percent increase this year, 324 percent over the last two years.
3D Systems: This company has captured the attention of many Wall Street analysts due to its product mix (mostly high-end industrial 3D printers, but also a growing consumer line), strong patents, and its sales of high margin materials. It has seen a 155 percent gain in the last 12 months and an astounding 845 percent over two years.
Dassault Systemes: (DASTY) With its SolidWorks software, France-based Dassault Systemes has one of the best known software packages for 3D designers and creators. Their stock only shows a 10 percent growth over the last 12 months, but over two years it is closer to 55 percent.
While there’s talk of a bubble, and no doubt that will be true for some companies in the 3D printing industry, there is also fundamental and healthy future growth by industrial users in medicine, manufacturing, and the military, just to mention a few. Do not get lost in the consumer frenzy portion of this still-growing industry -- look at the makers and manufacturers who are building functional components for everyday things.
An earlier version of this post first appeared on Forbes.
