voxeljet Q3 Financials Continue to Showcase Company’s Steady Growth

As we approach the final stretch of 2016, it’s safe to say that the Friedburg, Germany-based industrial 3D printing company voxeljet AG has fared relatively well in the financial department this year. After starting the year off with weak first quarter results, the company remained positive and stood behind their multi-year Vision 2020 plan. This long-term plan finally started coming to fruition in the second quarter of 2016, which showcased the positive financial outlook that was promised to shareholders.

As the German company has continued their expansion from Germany and North America into the automotive sector in Mexico, their financial numbers have continued to trend upward. Their recently released third quarter financial report shows that voxeljet is well on their way to an overall promising year. Highlights of the Q3 report show a 4% increase in total revenues, jumping from kEUR 4,710 to EUR 4,897 over the full-year period. Gross profit margin also made major strides, increasing to 41.1% compared to last year’s 32.7%.

Due to the increasing integration of their VX4000 industrial 3D printer, voxeljet’s Systems revenue jumped up a whopping 74.5% from kEUR 1,461 to kEUR 2,549. This growth largely came from three new printers that were delivered by the company during the quarter. All in all, the company is becoming increasingly dependent on their Systems revenue, which accounted for 52.1% of total revenues compared to just 31% last year.

Dr. Ingo Ederer, CEO of voxeljet

“We are in the middle of executing on our Vision 2020 and we are making good progress. We focus on speed to market and lowering our costs to serve our customers more effectively,” said Dr. Ingo Ederer, Chief Executive Officer of voxeljet. “Our key initiatives for achieving these objectives include standardization of our product portfolio as well as optimized internal processes. Regarding short term business, we continue to operate in a complex economic environment with lower than anticipated customer adoption rates. For the mid to long term we are excited about upcoming opportunities in all markets, especially with our new and improved processes.”

Still, one thorn that remains in voxeljet’s side is their Services revenue, which decreased 27.7% to kEUR 2,348 from kEUR 3,249 last year. Their Services sector was primarily hindered by the lackluster contribution from the subsidiary voxeljet UK Ltd., which brought in just kEUR 268 compared to kEUR 1,047 during the third quarter in 2015. They also saw a slight decrease from their German operation, but this was partially offset by the higher revenue contribution brought in from voxeljet America Inc.

The voxeljet US facility in Canton, MI

Outside of their Services revenue, voxeljet showed relatively positive growth across the board. Compared to last year, they were able to decrease selling expenses from kEUR 1,788 to kEUR 1,206, administrative expenses from kEUR 1,317 to kEUR 1,161, and research and development expenses from kEUR 1,685 to kEUR 1,487. However, due to the lackluster performance of the UK-based subsidiary, operating expenses from the third quarter of 2016 jumped to kEUR 1,899 from just kEUR 394 last year.

Although voxeljet has shown steady growth since the first quarter of 2016, they’ve still slightly lowered their expectations for total revenue by the end of the year. This quarter, the Germany company lowered their revenue guidance from between kEUR 24,000 and kEUR 25,000 to between kEUR 22,000 and kEUR 24,000. In order to continue on their positive path through the final quarter of the year, voxeljet will aim to increase their global Systems sales and create Services revenue growth at their facilities in Germany and the United States.

All in all, 2016 is shaping up to be encouraging year for voxeljet shareholders, some of which were likely concerned after the slow start during the first quarter of 2016. As the 3D printing company continues to expand their Systems throughout the world and alleviate the losses coming from their Services, voxeljet seems poised to finish the year off strong. The expected revenue guidance for the fourth quarter of 2016 is in the range of kEUR 6,000 to kEUR 8,000. Discuss in the voxeljet forum at 3DPB.com.