Swedish industrial metals 3-D printing company Arcam (NASDAQOTH: AMAVF) reported weak second-quarter 2014 earnings before the Stockholm exchange opened today. Arcam, which sells its electron beam melting 3-D printing systems to the orthopedic implant and aerospace markets, is the first company in the volatile 3-D printing sector to report Q2 results.

After initially dropping more than 11% on the Stockholm exchange, Arcam's stock price is now down about 8% in mid-day trading. Markets in the U.S. have not yet opened. (Arcam is listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, but it also trades over the counter in the U.S.)

Source: Arcam.

Arcam's Q2 results 
Here are the highlights: 

  • Revenue decreased by 14.6% to 46.1 million Swedish krona (MSEK), or about $6.75 million, from 54 MSEK in the year-ago period.
  • Net income plummeted 95% to 400,000 Swedish krona (SEK), or about $58,568, from 7.5 MSEK. 
  • Earnings per share dropped to 0.02 SEK, or about $0.003, from 0.47 SEK, or about $0.07. (Note: These numbers should be very close. Arcam only list EPS (and certain other data) for the six-month period, so quarterly EPS (and other data) has to be calculated. Additionally, the number of shares changed, so there were a couple calculations involved. At a minimum, Arcam should release its quarterly EPS on its quarterly earnings releases, as is customary. Further, it would also be a plus if the company included equivalent U.S. dollars in its financial releases. (The company would draw more U.S. investors, in my opinion, if it didn't make folks jump through hoops to obtain basic data.)
  • Four (4) electron beam melting systems were delivered versus seven (7) in the year-ago period.

There's no way to spin the quarterly financial results as anything but weak. Revenue was down somewhat, earnings were down even more (which means that margins contracted), and the company delivered only four 3-D printers, three fewer than in the second quarter of 2013. Additionally, on a pro forma basis, revenue (and possibly earnings) was surely down an even greater percentage, as Arcam completed the acquisition of the metal powder manufacturer AP&C in mid-February 2014. So AP&C's revenue was included in this year's Q2 results.

The forward-looking good news: increase in new orders
There is some good news: Arcam received 10 orders for 3-D printers in the quarter, which is three more than in the prior-year's quarter. Order backlog at the end of the second quarter was 16, versus 13 at the end of the second quarter of last year. (Note: While Arcam's current release lists 13 printers as the backlog for the year-ago period, the company's Q2 2013 earnings release shows 12 as the backlog at the end of the quarter. However, 13 was the backlog at the time of the earnings report. My guess is that 12 is the correct number, and this is likely a Swedish to English translation issue.)

At the time of this writing, Arcam had only released its earnings highlights, rather than its full results, so I can only provide results, not an analysis at this point. Stay tuned, Foolish investors!