The best 3D printing stocks will be companies like Stratasys Ltd or Desktop Metal. You want to look for 3D printing companies with the best growth potential. 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.
Haven’t you 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 exactly how it sounds.
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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?
We can create physical replications of a specific image using a specialized printing machine in a 3D construct. In other words, pick an image; these printers can create it in real life.
It sounds almost too good to be true. 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, several publicly traded companies do 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 3D printing ETF for investors to buy. Let’s look at some of the best 3D printing stocks on the market.
3D Printing Stocks List
Like any up-and-coming industry, the investing world is 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.
1. 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 works in several industries, including aerospace, automotive, education, and healthcare.
But what does Stratasys produce? Don’t freak out, but pieces to commercial airplanes that you could have flown on very well. They’re now being printed rather than manufactured. And when it’s done by machinery, there’s far less chance of 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, Stratasys can create 3D-printed anatomical replicas in the medical field. 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.
Stratasys Ltd ($SSYS) TipRanks Stock Forecast Report 3/24
2. 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 in Massachusetts and has had many high-profile investors, including Google, BMW, and Ford.
It should be no surprise that Desktop Metal is heavily involved in the automotive industry. We are participating in designing and constructing vehicle prototypes to 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.
3. NanoDimension (NASDAQ: NNDM)
Another Israel-based 3D printing company, NanoDimension, is well known for its proprietary Dragonfly LDM Additive Manufacturing System, which is optimized to create and print electronics such as circuit boards, capacitors, and sensors.
Much 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 cars. But NanoDimension is involved in other industries, including medical, aerospace, defense, automotive, and industrial.
4. 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD)
3D Systems Corp owns a patent on its technology 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 and being inside dental offices that can create a crown or mold on your teeth immediately 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 it also has a part in the lucrative semiconductor business.
5. Markforged (NYSE: AONE)
A new name is coming to the public markets, but it’s one that’s well-known in the 3D printing industry. Markforged is merging with blank check company One in a SPAC IPO that should be completed by the summer of 2021. Why is Markforged different?
The company plays in many 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 worth getting into now close to its NAV price as a SPAC.
6. Massivit3D
Yet another Israel-based 3D printing company that’s 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.
However, the company has reiterated that it focuses on mass production at high speed. They’ve boasted that its machines can print thirty times faster than 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 worldwide. 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?
Regarding global manufacturing, 3D printing may never completely replace humans, but it 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 far faster than if humans were to do it. Of course, this all adds to the popular rhetoric of machines replacing humans regarding monotonous tasks and labor. Perhaps in some industries, it’s for the best.
NASDAQ expects 3D printing in the healthcare market alone to experience a 19% CAGR until 2026 and perhaps beyond. We saw the importance of technology when 3D printers rapidly produced face masks and shields as the world battled the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it wasn’t just masks. Most people don’t know that 3D printer also made medical equipment, like nasal test swabs and respirators when factories and manufacturing plants were closed.
Agencies like NASA are investing heavily in 3D printing as space travel and exploration continue to gain popularity. Doctors can 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 has printed 1,400 square foot houses in only eight days.
Final Thoughts: 3D Printing Stocks
Does all this sound like the technology once thought to be only for science-fiction movies? This is the world we live in now. And if you believe in the industry, you should begin to build small positions in these companies now, when their valuations are low. The last time Cathie Wood was in industry before the mainstream was in 2018. She made massive investments in the electric vehicle sector and went all-in on a little company called Tesla.
Frequently Asked Questions
As investors look for ways to invest in evolving technologies, money should continue to flow into the top 3D printing stocks.
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, check out two IPOing soon. And you can decide if these are companies you’d be interested in adding to your portfolio.
