The ExOne Company’s (NASDAQ: XONE) Third Quarter 2014 Financials Disappoint

Another day, another major 3D Printer manufacturer reporting earnings. After the closing bell yesterday, it was The ExOne Company’s (NASDAQ: XONE) turn to show us all how they fared for the third quarter. After a decent report by 3D Systems earlier this week, which followed a mediocre report from Stratasys last week, investors within the industry seem to be looking for direction.

With this said, things do not look particularly good for ExOne. Their results came in well below analysts’ expectations for the quarter, and for the most part, well below numbers reported by the company in last year’s third quarter. Analysts had been expecting EPS to come in at around a $0.13 loss on revenues of approximately $15.3 million for the quarter. Surprising to the down side, ExOne reported a loss per share of $0.31, $0.18 under what analysts had been expecting. This was on revenues which fell well under their expectations as well, coming in at just $9.6 million.

To make things even worse, the company also reduced their full year revenue guidance by $10 million to $45-50 million. This was versus a consensus of $54.16 million by analysts.

“We continue to see this year as a transition to 2015,” explained S. Kent Rockwell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As we invest in our business, we are excited by the building momentum demonstrated by record levels we are hitting in non-machine sales. Our experience with customers has shown that acceptance of our binder jetting technology is demonstrated first in non-machine revenue generated from our production service centers (“PSCs”) and then through machine sales.”

What is likely the most discouraging to investors, is the fact that the business has not grown, and has brought in less revenue this year as opposed to last. Year-to-date for the nine-month period which ended September 30, the company reported $28.1 million in revenue compared with last year’s first nine months of $28.8 million. Gross profit for the period was also down significantly from $12.3 million to just $6.6 million. Additionally, margins have fallen substantially from 45.2% to 25.8% over this period. There is no doubt that the company is struggling right now, however, they do expect things to turn around next year, and are looking towards non-machine revenue growth as that spark.

“We are in the latter stages of completing the move into our new European headquarters facility in Germany, which will provide more than three times the production capacity there,” stated Rockwell. “The expansion at our North Huntingdon facility is also near completion, providing us with more than two times additional capacity at that facility. Expansion of our US R&D facility is ongoing as well, to give us needed space for our metals development activities. These investments represent the planning necessary to support our growing demand.”

Currently the company does have an edge over the major players within the industry when it comes to metal 3D printing, thanks to their proprietary technology. With this said, 3D Systems has promised to unveil their latest work within the area, at the end of this month, at Euromold in Frankfurt, Germany. Investors will need to gauge just how much of an edge they feel ExOne has within this space once 3D Systems shows their cards. Shares of the stock were down 6.69% in after-hours trading, following the report yesterday.

Do you own shares in The ExOne Company (NASDAQ: XONE)? Let’s hear your thoughts on this quarter’s report in the ExOne Third Quarter 2014 forum thread on 3DPB.com.