Short Interest in 3D Printing Sector Rises Even as Stock Prices Slip

Short interest in 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) rose 4.7% to 15.38 million shares. Some 16% of the company’s stock is short. In the two-week short interest period to January 15, shares fell about 3.4%, and they are down about 19% for the year to date as of Monday night. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.88 to $97.28, and shares closed at $79.87 Monday.

Short interest in Proto Labs Inc. (NYSE: PRLB) increased by 4% to 3.1 million shares, or 15.8% of the company’s float. Shares were up about 5.3% in the two-week period and closed Monday at $74.72, up about 83% in the past 12 months and up 6.6% year to date. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.64 to $89.97.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) saw short interest rise 8% in the first two weeks of January to 1.72 million shares, or about 4.6% of the total float. Shares fell about 8.8% in the two-week period and closed at $118.03 Monday, down nearly 12% for the year to date. The stock’s 52-week range is $60.20 to $138.10.

Short interest in ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE) fell 31% to 2.32 million shares. About 22.7% of the company’s shares are now held short. Shares of ExOne were down about 6% in the two-week period and closed at $47.50 Monday, down about 24% year to date. The 52-week range is $23.50 to $78.80.

Voxeljet A.G. (NYSE: VJET) saw short interest rise by 6.7% to 2.39 million. Since coming public at $19 in mid-October, the share price is up nearly 25%. Year to date, however, shares are down 17%. The stock closed at $35.89 on Monday, in a post-IPO range of $19.30 to $70.00.

Short interest is rising again among the majority of 3D printing company stocks. The odd thing is that stock prices have been falling too, so it appears that investors expect the sector to continue to slide.