Will 3D Systems’ Growth Strategy Be a Winner?

In the announcement of the deal with Xerox, Avi Reichental, 3D Systems’ CEO, said:

The stronger our marketplace leadership, the more powerful our economic model becomes. Simply put, a solidified position translates directly to higher revenue, higher profitability and greater earnings power over time, and we are willing to sacrifice short term earnings to get there faster.

Technology and growth over profits — that is one way to manage a company, but sometimes that approach is not so welcomed by investors. And 3D Systems did not just recently conjure up this strategy.

In its third quarter, 3D Systems made four acquisitions with a total value of about $27.5 million, to go with three acquisitions made in the second quarter at a cost of nearly $97.5 million. In the past three quarters, the company has spent more than $150 million on acquisitions on total sales of $358.6 million and gross profits of $187.5 million.

The company signed a development deal with the Motorola Mobility unit of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in November to create a high-speed 3D printing production platform to develop custom modular smartphones in an effort dubbed Project Ara by Google.

The good news for investors is that 3D Systems is essentially debt free, except for $11.3 million in convertible senior notes. The better news is that the company’s cash holdings at the end of the third quarter totaled $345 million.

Shareholders have apparently signed on to the acquisition strategy. The company’s share price is up nearly 170% in the past 12 months, a larger gain than peers The ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE), up nearly 100%, and Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), up about 76%. And 3D Systems’ stock has jumped 50% in the past three months, more than double any of its peers’ share price increases.

3D Systems shares closed at $81.99 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $27.88 to $84.85.