Short Interest in 3D Printing Sector Focuses on One Stock

Short interest in 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) soared 43.4% to 23.84 million shares. Some 24.6% of the company’s stock is short. In the two-week short interest period to February 14, the share price fell more than 7%, and it is down about 19% for the year to date as of Wednesday night. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.88 to $97.28, and shares closed at $75.97 Wednesday.

Short interest in Proto Labs Inc. (NYSE: PRLB) decreased by 7.4% to 3.06 million shares, or 13.8% of the company’s float. Shares were up about 0.4% in the two-week period and closed Wednesday at $78.79, up about 12% year-to-date. The stock’s 52-week range is $43.50 to $89.97.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) saw short interest drop 4.9% in the first two weeks of February to 2.01 million shares, or about 4.8% of the company’s float. Shares gained about 1.6% in the two-week period and closed at $126.60 Wednesday, down nearly 5.5% for the year to date. The stock’s 52-week range is $61.15 to $138.10.

Short interest in The ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE) rose 16.8% to 3.23 million shares. About 31% of the company’s shares are now held short. Shares of ExOne were down about 6.6% in the two-week period and closed Wednesday at $45.33, down about 27% year-to-date. The stock’s 52-week range is $26.07 to $78.80.

Voxeljet A.G. (NYSE: VJET) saw short interest rise by 5.4% to 2.66 million. Since the stock came public at $19 in mid-October, the share price is up nearly 20%. Year-to-date, however, shares are down 20% and are down more than 5% in the past two weeks. The stock closed at $34.50 on Wednesday in a post-IPO range of $19.30 to $70.00.

3D Systems continues to attract the most interest from short sellers. A short-seller report trashing the company hit in the final week of January and the stock price has continued to slide. These are momentum stocks and as such very volatile, a short seller’s wheelhouse. 3D Systems and ExOne get most of the shorts’ attention.