What happened
Shares of 3D Systems (DDD 1.15%) plunged 24.8% on Wednesday after the 3D printer manufacturer reported first-quarter 2019 results. As of 1:40 p.m. EDT, the stock had recovered slightly, but was still down 20.3%.
So what
Quarterly revenue dropped 8% to $152 million and net loss grew from $21 million to $24.4 million, or $0.22 per share. On an adjusted basis, which pulls out one-time items, the loss grew from $0.03 per share a year ago to $0.09 per share in Q1.
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Analysts were expecting $164.7 million in revenue and a loss of just $0.01 per share, so results were far off what Wall Street anticipated.
Now what
Large orders being placed at discounted prices have hurt results, but so has a rough transition to metal printers. 3D Systems expected metal printers to be a growth market on top of the existing plastic printing, but that hasn't proven to be a profitable move yet. As a result, management has resorted to more cost-cutting -- another sign that business is not going at all as hoped for this 3D printing company.
