Can Stratasys Rekindle 3D Fever?

For the full year, Stratasys posted EPS of $2.00 on adjusted revenues of $750.4 million, compared with EPS of $1.84 on revenues of $486.7 in 2013. Analysts were expecting full-year EPS of $2.00 and revenues of $748.99 million.

Stratasys warned on earnings exactly one month ago and cut its outlook for 2015, costing investors more than 25% of value of their holdings. The company said it planned to invest $160 million to $200 million in a drive to reach a revenue goal of $3 billion by 2020.

On a GAAP basis the company posted a loss of $1.81 per share for the quarter, compared with a loss of $0.04 per share in the same quarter a year ago. For the full year, the GAAP loss totaled $2.39, compared with a loss of $0.64 per share in 2013.

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Stratasys guided full-year revenue to a range of $940 million to $960 million, and adjusted net income to a range of $109 million to $118 million. Full-year adjusted EPS is forecast in a range of $2.07 to $2.24. On a GAAP basis the company expects a net loss of $0.20 to $0.45 per share. Operating expenses are expected to be about 46% to 47%, as the company said last month. The $160 million to $200 million capital spending plan remains as well. The company also said that the majority of adjusted net income would not come until the second half of 2015.

The consensus estimates for the first quarter call for EPS of $0.35 on revenues of $202.6 million. For the full year, analysts expect of $2.12 on revenues of $950.03 million.

The company sold 11,214 3D printing and additive manufacturing systems during the quarter. On a combined pro forma basis, a cumulative 121,661 systems have been sold worldwide through June 30, 2014. To put that in perspective, in the second quarter of 2014 the company said it sold 14,909 systems and had sold a cumulative total of 99, 529 systems. Stratasys sold about 22,000 systems in the last half of 2014, or about 11,000 per quarter.

The company’s CEO said:

Growth in our core business reflects the increasing demand for additive manufacturing, and our leadership within the marketplace. During the fourth quarter, MakerBot was affected by challenges associated with the introduction and scaling of its new product platform and its rapidly evolving distribution model. As market adoption continues to evolve and to the extent MakerBot continues to establish and expand sales channels, the Company expects MakerBot growth rates to ramp up to, or exceed, overall Company averages by 2016.

Shares will trade solidly higher Monday mostly as a result of the revenue beat, and the fact that Stratasys may have dumped all its bad news into the last half of 2014 and the first half of 2015. Investors may be patient with the company, but that’s not a cinch.

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Shares of Stratasys are up about 5% in premarket trading Monday, at $65.00 in a 52-week range of $51.55 to $130.83. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $78.00 before the results were announced. At the end of the second quarter of 2014, the consensus price target was about $130.00 a share. Shares traded around $80 a month ago.