What happened

Shares of Nano Dimension (NNDM) rose 110.5% in November, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock climbed early in the month after the company announced new 3D-printing machine sales, and it enjoyed further gains in the month after the equipment specialist posted encouraging guidance along with its third-quarter results.

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Nano Dimension published its Q3 results on Nov. 12, posting sales and earnings for the period that fell short of the market's expectations. However, the company paired the earnings results with an encouraging outlook, and tailwinds in the semiconductor space combined with momentum for the broader market likely prompted increased bullish sentiment on the stock. 

A gloved and masked technician examines a chip while holding it with tweezers.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Nano Dimension provides 3D-printing machines for use with semiconductors and other advanced electronics. The company announced on Dec. 5 that it had sold two of its DragonFly LDM 3D-printing machines -- one to a research institution and the other to an Australian defense contractor. These machines are used for the additive manufacturing of semiconductors.  

Nano Dimension's Q3 results arrived a week later with sales and earnings that fell far short of the market's targets, but this is a young company at a very early growth stage, and investors understandably aren't too concerned about the misses. The company posted a loss of $0.45 per share on revenue of $438,000, while the average analyst estimate had targeted a loss of $0.08 per share on sales of $1.2 million.

Nano Dimension has faced weaker demand as coronavirus-related uncertainty has made businesses less willing to spend on new growth projects. However, CEO Yoav Stern mentioned the middle of 2021 as a potential target for recovery during the third-quarter conference call. 

Now what

Nano Dimension stock has continued to post impressive gains in December. The company's share price is up roughly 11.7% in the month as of this writing. 

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Nano Dimension is a small-cap company in a potentially explosive, but still somewhat speculative, growth market. These conditions set the stock up for volatile swings.

Nano Dimension is valued at roughly $325 million and trades at approximately 93 times this year's expected sales.