The best 3D printing stocks are going to be companies like Stratasys Ltd or Desktop Metal. You want to look for 3D printing companies that have the best potential for growth. 3D printing is here to stay. And they’ve been able to do some incredible things with it on the medical front. As well as make some pretty nifty stuff. You can even get 3D printers for the home now.
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Table of Contents
List of 3D Printing Stocks
| Symbol | Name |
|---|---|
| SSYS | Stratasys Ltd |
| DM | Desktop Metal |
| NNDM | NanoDimension |
| DDD | 3D Systems Corp. |
| AONE | Markforged |
| MSVT | Massivit 3D Printing Technologies Ltd |
What is 3D Printing?
Haven’t heard of 3D printing? It is only one of the hottest upcoming sectors in the world of investing. And in the real world, it’s about to take the manufacturing industry by storm.
The way we know 3D printing is now quite different from the practice that’s been around since the 1970s. This makes sense since technology has evolved exponentially in the decades following. 3D printing or additive manufacturing as it is also known is in fact exactly how it sounds.
Using a specialized printing machine, we can create physical replications of a specific image, in a 3D construct. In other words, pick an image, and these printers can create it in real life.
In a way it sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? Why don’t we use this technology to build everything? In many ways we are. And when we outline some of the ways we utilize 3D printing today, you may be pleasantly surprised. In the investing world, there are several publicly traded companies doing some pretty incredible things with 3D printing.
The industry has caught the eye of investors like Cathie Wood of Ark Invest; which has recently even started its own 3D printing ETF for investors to buy. Let’s take a look at some of the best 3D printing stocks on the market.
What Are the Best 3D Printing Stocks?
Like with any up-and-coming industry, the investing world is all about getting in on the ground floor while these companies are trading at low valuations. Luckily, the 3D printing sector is still in its infancy in terms of what it one day may become, so put these stocks on your radar now. Before the stock price catches up with the potential of the technology. Let’s look at 3D printing stocks trading now.
Stratasys Ltd (NASDAQ: SSYS)
Stratasys is an American-Israeli 3D printing company that specializes in manufacturing printers that focus on rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing solutions. The company has its hands in a number of different industries including aerospace, automotive, education, and healthcare.
But what does Stratasys actually produce? Don’t freak out, but pieces to commercial airplanes that you very well could have flown on. They’re now being printed rather than manufactured. And when it’s done by machinery there’s a far less chance of having imperfections that could have deadly consequences.
Stratasys is also involved in the molding and crafting of orthodontic appliances. Like clear aligners which are growing in popularity over traditional braces. Finally, in the medical field, Stratasys can create 3D printed anatomical replicas. As a result, researchers don’t have to deal with animals or cadavers for their studies. So keep them in mind for the best 3D printing stocks of 2021.
Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM)
Desktop Metal was another popular investment as it came public through a SPAC IPO reverse merger in 2020. The company is based out of Massachusetts and has had no shortage of high-profile investors including Google, BMW, and Ford.
It should come as no surprise then that Desktop Metal is heavily involved in the automotive industry. Participating in the design and construction of vehicle prototypes to actually creating parts for the car itself. Desktop Metal deals with the who’s who of the automotive world including as mentioned Ford, BMW but also Toyota, Goodyear, Nissan, Bosch, and Renault.
They’re also a big player in the consumer goods sector. They’ve teamed with many well-known fashion brands and industrial conglomerates to mass-produce specific needs like zippers for clothing and other fashion accessories. Add Adidas, 3M, Stanley Black and Decker, and Moen to its list of clients here.
NanoDimension (NASDAQ: NNDM)
Another Israel-based 3D printing company, NanoDimension is actually quite well known for their proprietary Dragonfly LDM Additive Manufacturing System. Which is optimized to create and print electronics such as circuit boards, capacitors, and sensors.
A lot of the buzz about NanoDimension revolves around the ability to print circuit boards and eventually, processing chips. It’s the brainpower behind everything from mobile phones to laptops to eventually cars. But NanoDimension is involved in other industries as well including medical, aerospace, defense, and automotive, and industrial.
3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD)
3D Systems Corp actually owns a patent on its technology which is called stereolithography. This uses lasers to create a 3D product out of a liquid photopolymer. The company focuses on two main sectors: industrial and medical.
The medical side sees 3D Systems Corp producing surgical instruments and implants for spinal and orthopedic purposes. As well as being inside dental offices that can create a crown or mold of your teeth right on the spot after a quick scan.
On the industrial side, 3D Systems has its hands in the automotive and aerospace fields like most other 3D printing companies. But also has a part in the lucrative semiconductor business as well.
Will 3D Printing Stocks Rebound?
3D printing isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s going to become more and more used. Supply and demand will always drive a free market. So if the demand is there, we can expect 3D printing to be around for a long time. And that makes it an attractive trade for any investor or trader.
If you’re looking for new 3D printing stocks, let’s check out 2 that are IPOing soon. And you can decide if these are companies you’d be into adding to your portfolio.
Markforged (NYSE: AONE)
A new name is coming to the public markets but it’s one that’s well known around the 3D printing industry. Markforged is merging with blank check company One, in a SPAC IPO that should complete by the summer of 2021. Why is Markforged different?
The company has a play in a large number of industries and works alongside the ten largest aerospace companies and twelve of the fourteen largest automotive companies in the world. It boasts over 12,000 global customers, including A-level names like Microsoft, Siemens, Toyota, Porsche, Volkswagen, the U.S. Air Force, Phillips, and Walt Disney.
If you aren’t impressed by their client list, how about their recent cloud-based, AI software. It helps its global clients connect through one software platform to access Markforged’s vast library of designs and prototypes. If they’ve printed it anywhere, it’s saved in the cloud and accessed through its platform called The Digital Forge.
If the company can monetize this and combine the 3D printing with a SaaS business, this could be one stock that is worth getting into now close to its NAV price as a SPAC.
Massivit3D
Yet another Israel-based 3D printing company that’s actually going to debut on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Massivit is hoping to reward shareholders with its large-scale 3D printing strategies. If you see Massivit’s printing machines, they’re massive; the size of a small room.
But the company has reiterated that it focuses on mass production with high speed. They’ve boasted that its machines can print thirty times faster than other similar systems currently on the market. Massivit deals mostly with the automotive, aerospace, and industrial sectors.
If its machines are efficient as the company claims, they could soon be used in many more industries around the world. The newest and fastest Massivit printing machine, the Massivit3D 10000, will debut this fall. The company says it already has orders from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Taiwan.
Is 3D Printing the Future?
As far as global manufacturing goes, 3D printing may never completely replace humans, but they might. With a 3D printer, companies don’t have to worry about errors or miscalculations that could lead to disastrous consequences.
Simple things can be re-produced en masse at a far faster speed than if humans were to do it. Of course, this all adds to the popular rhetoric of machines replacing humans when it comes to monotonous tasks and labor. Perhaps in some industries, it’s for the best.
NASDAQ expects that 3D printing in the healthcare market alone will experience a 19% CAGR until 2026 and perhaps even beyond. We saw how important the technology was when face masks and shields were rapidly produced by 3D printers as the world battled the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it wasn’t just masks. Most people don’t know that medical equipment like nasal test swabs and respirators were also made by 3D printers; during a time when factories and manufacturing plants were closed down.
Agencies like NASA are investing heavily into 3D printing as space travel and exploration continue to gain popularity. Doctors are able to create and print synthetic bones and parts of bones to help repair patients who have suffered trauma or fractures or even are trying to overcome cancer. Entire houses and developments are being made completely by 3D printers, as one company called has been able to print 1,400 square foot houses in only eight days.
The Bottom Line
Does all this sound like the technology that was once thought to be only for science-fiction movies? This is the world we live in now. And if you believe in the industry, then you may want to begin to build small positions in these companies now; when their valuations are low. The last time Cathie Wood was long in an industry before the mainstream was in 2018. She made massive investments into the electric vehicle sector and went all-in on a little company called Tesla.
