A Sudden Turning Point: AM Research’s Q3 Offerings Dissect a Pivotal Three Months

One of the most reliable ways to stay updated on activity in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry is to subscribe to AM Research’s data services, available for both the polymer and metal markets, and released quarterly. The consultancy also releases commentary on the data on a quarterly basis, and, as I detailed a couple of weeks ago, AM Research just came out with its 3DP/AM Market Insights for Q3 2025, in addition to the data from Q3.

To reiterate, one of the big takeaways was that Q3 2025 was the first quarter in history in which the AM market’s total value exceeded $4 billion. This is based on AM Research’s definition of the market as the total revenue of machine sales, material sales, and services for polymer, metal, and ceramic.

Regarding Q3, AM Research’s EVP, Scott Dunham, said, “Real momentum is building in the AM industry…Although the growth rate is accelerating, it obviously has not been enough over the past four years to sustain the myriad of corporate interests and ventures in AM, to say nothing of profitability.

“We are seeing some re-capitalization trends and growth is happening in some cases outside the usual places. A number of companies have timed the market very well, leveraging the ability to develop and deploy innovative AM solutions that have been able to leapfrog the legacy AM markets. These companies are going to have a lot of possibilities open to them in the next few years.”

As the report describes, while there may not have been the same level of interest in acquisitions in 2025 as was demonstrated in 2023 and 2024, there were some rather notable happenings on that front in Q3, including Anzu Partners’ acquisition of certain Desktop Metal assets, ultimately resulting in the combination of ExOne and voxeljet into a single entity. Anyone interested in that story should attend Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2026, February 24-26 in New York City, where they can see Whitney Haring-Smith, Co-Founding Managing Partner at Anzu, speak at 4:00 PM EST on the 24th.

The most noteworthy angle to AM Research’s findings on Q3 may not even be the numbers, but Dunham’s assertion that Q3 seems to have been a turning point for the AM industry. This is something that we’ll only be able to judge fully as the industry’s next several quarters play out, but it is worth keeping in mind that there have been some unusually large capital raises in Q4: Ursa Major raised $100 million in a Series E, Fabric8Labs raised $50 million, and Carbon took in $60 million.

In addition to the quarterly data services and market insights, AM Research also regularly releases reports throughout the year, including various market segment analyses and market opportunity briefs across the AM industry, as well as offering consulting services. If there’s context that you’re looking for and haven’t been able to find it anywhere else, please reach out at info@additivemanufacturingresearch.com!