3D Printing Financials: Voxeljet’s Q1 2024 Success During Market Shift from Nasdaq to OTC

Voxeljet recently reported its best first quarter for revenue and gross profit ever, announcing a robust increase in both areas in its first quarterly investor communication for 2024. This positive news comes shortly after voxeljet released its final earnings report as a Nasdaq-listed company for the last quarter of 2023. Due to sustained poor stock performance and financial pressures, voxeljet transitioned its trading to the Over-The-Counter (OTC) market in March 2024, marking a significant change in its market presence.

The company’s latest earnings report provides a complete look at its current financial health and prospects. Now a 25-year-old business, voxeljet reported impressive financial results for the first quarter of 2024, with revenue increasing by 15.6% year-over-year to €6.96 million, compared to €6 million in the first quarter of 2023. This growth marks the best first calendar quarter for revenue in the company’s history. Additionally, the gross profit for the period increased by 49.6% year-over-year, reaching €2.87 million from €1.92 million the previous year. The gross profit margin also rose to 41.2% from 31.9%.

voxeljet’s revenue growth was driven by impressive performances in both its systems and services segments. In the systems segment, revenue increased by 15.9% year-over-year, climbing to €3.66 million in the first quarter of 2024 from €3.16 million in 2023. This growth was further highlighted by an improvement in the gross profit margin, which rose to 38% from 33.5%. The demand for voxeljet’s high-speed, large-format 3D printers has remained strong, contributing significantly to this positive outcome.

The services segment also showed growth. Revenue rose by 15.4% year-over-year, reaching €3.30 million compared to €2.86 million in the previous year. Gross profit margin in this segment also saw a substantial increase, rising to 44.9% from 30%, highlighting voxeljet’s success in enhancing its on-demand parts services.

The VX1000 HSS from voxeljet is a high-performance 3D printer for processing polymers. Image courtesy of Business Wire.

CEO Ingo Ederer highlighted the company’s achievements and ongoing projects: “We are making good progress with the development and assembly of the extremely large 3D printer prototype for GE Wind Energy. The build area of the new binder-jetting printer is more than 70 square meters. To my knowledge, that is at least an order of magnitude larger than systems from other players in the industry.”

In the High Speed Sintering (HSS) domain, voxeljet successfully printed full jobs in TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), with good part quality and efficient unpacking and powder removal processes. A TPU conversion kit was also installed at Nike‘s research and development site in Beaverton, Oregon.

The move from the Nasdaq to the OTC market—where voxeljet’s shares now trade under the ticker “VJTTY”—and subsequent deregistration from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting obligations on April 1, 2024, marked a shift for the German-based business. This transition has provided the company with greater operational flexibility and reduced the costs associated with being publicly listed in the U.S.

Ederer previously explained that the decision to delist was influenced by the need to manage costs more effectively, particularly those related to external advisers for public company compliance. To support this move, the revised loan agreement with Anzu Partners, securing around $5.5 million, is helping cover delisting expenses and support voxeljet’s day-to-day operations.

This isn’t the first big move for voxeljet. After an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 18, 2013, which raised around $100 million, the company further developed its technology and expanded its sites in Friedberg, Detroit, and Shanghai. However, by August 2020, voxeljet had moved from the NYSE to Nasdaq to reduce costs and improve trading liquidity.

CFO Rudolf Franz, who has been with voxeljet for over 20 years, recently reflected on his journey: “Not everything developed as planned – being on the stock market means working under the microscope and meeting the high expectations of analysts and investors quarter after quarter – some projects took longer – some projects didn’t work at all. We learned to survive – sometimes I’m disappointed that we’re not further along – making more sales and already profitable – but looking back over the last 20 years, I have to say that our team has achieved a lot and raised our technology to a level that no one would have expected twenty years ago.”

voxeljet CFO Rudolf Franz. Image courtesy of voxeljet.

From a small start-up initiative out of the Technical University of Munich, this spinout has grown into a company that now employs over 200 employees at four sites and works with major industrial companies worldwide. As voxeljet continues to evolve, its financial performance in the first quarter of 2024 suggests a good start to the year. While marking the end of an era for voxeljet, the transition to the OTC market and delisting also opens new opportunities to focus on its core strengths in 3D printing.