What happened?
Shares of Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS -4.16%), a global provider of 3-D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, were up 12% as of 11:26 a.m. EDT Wednesday after the company released second-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates.
So what
Second-quarter revenue checked in at $170.2 million, just slightly above analysts' estimates, and adjusted earnings per share were $0.15, better than estimates of $0.08, per analysts surveyed by Zacks.
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"Our second-quarter revenue was in line with our expectations for the period, as we saw recovery in high-end system orders in North America and in certain verticals, specifically our customers in government, aerospace, and automotive," interim CEO Elchanan (Elan) Jaglom said in a press release.
Now what
Stratasys, along with many other 3-D printing stocks, was once one of the most intriguing stories in the market. But that growth story hasn't gone according to plan partly because mainstream consumers haven't yet shown interest in developing skills to produce products using 3-D printing machines, and because larger consumers such as the government have also been slower to adopt the technology than was anticipated. Thus, revenue has stalled in recent years. Today's 12% pop was welcomed by investors, but the company has much to prove in terms of a growth story before investors jump back onto the bandwagon long term.
