In the following video, 3-D printing specialist Steve Heller asks Proto Labs (PRLB 2.27%) chief technology officer Rob Bodor to explain the company's market opportunity in dollars. Including Proto Labs' recent Fineline Prototyping acquisition in the 3-D printing as a service space, the company estimates its market opportunity is somewhere in the neighborhood of about $7 billion. Having only generated a little more than $163 million in revenue last year, it's strikingly clear that the company has a massive runway for long-term growth potential.
But Proto Labs investors should realize that the company's addressable market and market share are two different things, and investors shouldn't assume that Proto Labs will capture 100% of its market opportunity. Still, with such a massive market opportunity worldwide, it's reasonable for investors to think there's a considerable runway for growth ahead.
A full transcript follows the video.
Steve Heller: I wanted to talk a little bit about your [Proto Labs'] market opportunity. If you could define it -- maybe a total dollar value if you have that ability -- how do you guys value your market opportunity? Where do you think you are in terms of that progress, and what kind of work do you need to do to grow into that market opportunity?
Rob Bodor: I'm really excited about the opportunity, and I think it's enormous. We [Proto Labs] sponsored a study last year -- because, unlike the Wohlers Report in additive [3-D printing], there really hasn't been a third party that looked at our space -- so we sponsored a third-party study, and they found that we [Proto Labs] had a total addressable market of about $6 billion, very tailored to our existing capabilities in terms of the size of parts, the specific materials, and the processes around injection molding and machining.
Since that $6 billion was found, we [Proto Labs] added Fineline additive manufacturing, so that adds about $800 million or another $1 billion onto it, so now we're around $7 billion. That was also before all of our new processes; our liquid silicone rubber, our metal injection molding, or our thixomolding process.
Heller: So, as [Proto Labs increases its] you increase your applications, you're expanding your market opportunity.
Bodor: Absolutely.
Heller: Last year, your [Proto Labs'] full-year revenue was in the $160 million ...?
Bodor: $163 million.
Heller: Yes, so you have got a lot of room to grow. Very good.
Bodor: Yes, it's very exciting.
Heller: Thank you so much, Rob. I really appreciate your time.
Bodor: Thank you.
