Industrial 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet (NASDAQ: VJET) reported solid fourth-quarter and 2021 full-year earnings on March 31, 2022, and solid preliminary results for the first quarter of 2022. Another win for the company this time around was its net profit which surfaced at €1 million or 15 cents per share, compared to the net losses of €3.7 million, or 77 cents per share, incurred in the same period in 2020.
As one of the pioneering 3D printing manufacturers, voxeljet is pushing new boundaries with its binder-jetting technology, especially for high volume manufacturing. For Q4 2021 and full year 2021, voxeljet reported an increase of 22.9% and 15.1%, respectively. In the last quarter of last year, the company posted a rise in both its systems and services revenues compared to 2020. This was mainly from the sale of seven new and two used and refurbished 3D printers, compared to six new and two used and refurbished 3D printers delivered in last year’s fourth quarter. Notably, the company sold many larger-scale printers, which generated higher revenues and higher gross margins.
Systems-related revenues also increased in the fourth quarter year over year, which confirmed a positive trend as the industry recovers from the Covid-19-related economic slow-down. Representing 77.8 percent of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2021, Systems revenue comes from manufacturing and selling industrial-grade, high-speed, large-format 3D printing systems geared toward mass production of complex models, molds, and direct parts.
As for the brand’s Services segment, which focuses on the printing of on-demand parts for its customers, saw a boost of 11.6% to €2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. This increase was mainly due to higher revenue contributions from the German operations as well as from the voxeljet subsidiary in China.
Voxeljet CEO Ingo Ederer said on Thursday that the company finished the year with several milestones that will help its mission to establish new manufacturing standards. Starting with one of the biggest news, voxeljet, together with GE Renewables, plans to develop the world’s largest binder jet 3D printer to produce critical components for the most powerful offshore wind turbines in the world, called Haliade-X.
During an earnings call with investors, Ederer suggested that the new groundbreaking project is a significant step towards renewable energy. The company will provide pictures throughout the year since the team just started ordering parts and assembling the first prototype components.
Additionally, in the fourth quarter, voxeljet announced that Brose, a leading global supplier to the electric car industry, is the first client in the beta program for the new, large High-Speed Sintering 3D printer. Another piece of news that adds to the company’s expansion is a new partnership with Covestro, a billion-dollar chemical company, to advance additive manufacturing in series production.
Also, voxeljet received the final acceptance of the first VJET X units from its partner in the fourth quarter, related to the project with a leading German automotive manufacturer. The VJET X is a new 3D printer with extreme performance for high-volume industrial applications.
“Overall, the fourth quarter 2021 was a record sales quarter for our company and we are pleased that this momentum has continued in the first months of the new year,” said Ederer. “Have in mind, we hit the midpoint in revenues, we are on point with gross margins, R&D and selling expenses. Only administrative expenses were out of our estimate as a result of a higher peak for services related to being a public company.”
voxeljet’s 2022 is shaping up to become a strong first quarter, with revenue anticipated in the range of €4 million and €4.5 million. Meanwhile, the guidance for the full year ending on December 31, 2022, could reach between €25 and €30 million.
In fact, over the next few years, Ederer described how a growing number of parts currently made out of metal would be manufactured with high-performance plastic polymers. Engineering thermoplastic materials provide consistent strength in business and outstanding impact with performance for metal replacement, he said. All these advantages provide the sales opportunity for 3D printing and the manufacturing of high-performance plastic polymers in what Ederer described as “larger than the opportunity in metal printing.” He hopes to capture a significant portion of this growing market with voxeljet’s new large high-speed sintering printers.
Hoping that it can increase the total addressable market considerably, voxeljet is targeting new applications with existing groups with its VJET X, as well as new markets thanks to its new high-speed sintering printer, such as audio equipment, automotive interiors, and sealings. In addition, the brand is confident that over the long-term, its expertise and intellectual property in binder-jetting for series production will differentiate it from the competition and, in turn, help customers become more productive at scale.
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