3D Systems (DDD -1.01%) stock was gutted on the market today, down more than 25% at its worst, after the company announced very anemic fourth-quarter, earnings-per-share guidance. In this video, Motley Fool analyst Simon Erickson talks about the report, and tells investors where the weakness came from.
Simon notes that it was consumer demand that was the real source of the weakness, and that the company still enjoys strong demand from its industrial clients. While that isn't positive, it's much more preferable than the reverse, as the industrial clients represent a much more significant portion of the revenue stream than the consumer clients for 3D Systems.
Despite the rapidly growing number of companies diving into this space, Simon highlights the fact that 3D Systems is still the market-cap leader here. He breaks down where the company gets its revenue from, and shows that in this industry, being the biggest company is important because it allows the company to spread itself across a broad variety of customers.
So does Simon like the stock today? He says he does, and notes that earnings are a backward-facing metric, and even full-year guidance is only looking out one year into the future. He sees 3D Systems as a company whose adoption rates aren't anywhere near their potential because it is just getting started.
