Sweden-based Arcam, maker of powerful metal 3D printing gear, released interim financial results for the first half of the year, and there’s good and bad news.
Arcam is one of the few publicly traded 3D printer manufacturers, so it is important to see how they’re doing as it reflects on the industry as a whole, including the parts we don’t see.
So how did they do?
- Their sales were up 17%, compared to the same period in 2015
- Their operating income dropped by a whopping 82%, and their net income by 41%!
- Earnings per share were about half of previous
- 28 systems were shipped, up from 25
- 15 new orders were received
There’s more at the link below, but from this we can see they’re increasing the number of units sold, but incurring additioanl expenses not previously seen that are impacting their numbers.
One possibility for this is the expansion of their Montreal-based metal powder plant. Apparently they’re currently working to increase its capacity initially to 750 tons per year, but eventually to 1,200 tons per year.
This is very important: for every system they sell, they will correspondingly sell an ongoing stream of metal powder to the customer. Every system sold represents continuous revenue for the future, so they’re actually in a reasonably good position.
For sure, some customers may choose to use other powders, but to ensure certified results, they will tend to use material approved by the manufacturer. That’s important when you’re producing, say, critical production parts for aircraft.
It seems this company is betting on the future.
Via BusinessWire
