Author Archives: Scalper1

With a strong leap in the stock prices of 3D Systems ( DDD ) and Stratasys ( SSYS ), some analysts question if the rise was too far too fast. Needham analyst James Ricchiuti on Tuesday lowered his rating on 3D Systems to hold from buy, saying further upside in the stock over the near term will be challenging. He says the turnaround at 3D Systems should be more gradual than the market is anticipating. It follows a recent downgrade of 3D Systems and Stratasys from Citi based on stock price valuations of both companies. Shares of 3D Systems and Stratasys were hammered in 2015 as both posted quarter after quarter of disappointing earnings and sales. This year, Stratasys stock has nearly doubled since hitting a six-year low of 14.88 three months ago. 3D Systems has nearly triple since hitting a five-year low of 6 three months ago. “3D Systems shares are now above our 12-month target price,” Ricchiuti wrote in a research note. “With the stock trading at 32 times our 2017 EPS estimate, the market appears to be pricing healthy upside to estimates.” The rise of both stocks were partly fueled by the Q4 earnings reports of both companies that beat expectations, suggesting the worst might be over and raising hopes the top two 3D printer makers are poised for a rebound. But that wasn’t the message that 3D Systems and Stratasys tried to signal, as comments from company executives during the conference call were of a cautious tone about the road ahead. 3D Systems got a further bounce when it announced Vyomesh Joshi as CEO on April 4. Joshi had been executive vice president of the imaging and printing business of HP Inc. ( HPQ ), formerly Hewlett-Packard before its split. HP plans to enter the 3D printer market this year. 3D Systems stock was near 18, down 2%, in afternoon trading in the stock market today . Stratasys was trading near 26, up a fraction. 3D Systems is set to report first-quarter earnings on May 5 and Stratasys on May 9, both before the market open. The consensus on 3D Systems is revenue of $156.3 million, down 3% year over year, and earnings per share minus items of 5 cents, flat, as polled by Thomson Reuters. Stratasys sales are seen rising 4.5% to $164.8 million as it swings to a 4-cent per-share loss from a 4-cent profit. “Notwithstanding solid sequential improvement in Q4 from eight of the publicly traded 3D printing companies, we believe business remains challenging compounded by the normal seasonal weakness experienced in the March quarter,” Ricchiuti wrote.