After filing late, this week 3D Systems Corporation released their financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2015 and it held some surprisingly good news for the company. Predictions had been grim, however final yearly results showed an unexpected 2% increase in total revenues, which caused a jump in trading that surged to an almost 25% jump in value. Interest in the company’s stock had been dropping for almost the entire 2015 fiscal year as share prices dipped down to a dismal $9.29 a share from a high of $97 back in December 2013. The jump in revenue even seemed to take 3D Systems by surprise, as industry analysts predicted losses and they had been keeping silent on their financials.
“While market conditions remain challenging and uncertain, timing of healthcare and industrial customer orders as well as contributions from acquisitions supported revenue during the quarter. We believe that by leveraging our domain expertise, partner and customer relationships and advanced technology we are well positioned to capitalize on meaningful opportunities in key verticals. We are continuing an extensive and comprehensive review of our business and strategy and taking steps to better prioritize our resources and focus our investments,” explained 3D Systems Interim President Andrew Johnson, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Legal Officer.
Actual fourth quarter 2015 showed a gross profit margin of 32.8% related to inventory and purchase commitments related to the end-of-life of the Cube 3D printer. The resulting $27.4 million charge was a hefty price to pay for shifting the company away from consumer products, but it may leave a much healthier company behind it. If you exclude the negative impact of the charge, the gross profit margin jumps to 47.7%. That is still a decrease of 20 basis points from fourth quarter 2014, but if the company can maintain its current sales level in industrial and medical applications it will look much healthier next year.
The company is heading into 2016 in surprisingly good shape, showing a flat $66.7 million in cash operating expenses, total operating expenses for the quarter at $626.1 million including a goodwill and intangibles impairment charge of $537.2 million. Excluding the impairment charge makes total operating expenses $88.9 million with $22.4 million for R&D expenses and the remaining $66.5 million designated as SG&A expenses. Fourth quarter generated $7.5 million in cash for operations and used $3.1 million in cash during the full year, currently the company has a solid $155.6 million of cash on hand as of the end of December.
While the 2015 end of year showed a glimmer of hope for the embattled 3D printing company, there is still a significant amount of work to be done to repair the last year and a half of damage. The first step is finding a new, permanent CEO to replace Reichental, a search that has been ongoing since the end of the third quarter. Discuss in the 3D Systems Financials forum over at 3DPB.com.