Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) Reports Slightly Better Than Expected First Quarter 2015 Earnings

With a deluge of negative news surrounding the 3D printing space, all eyes are on Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) this morning as they report their first quarter, 2015 earnings. Coming off a market shocker just under two weeks ago, where Stratasys issued preliminary results for the quarter, warning investors that the company will likely miss analysts’ expectations, lowering their full year guidance, and showing an 18% revenue decline for their subsidiary, MakerBot, investors now want to know just how bad this quarter has been.

Last week 3D Systems reported their earnings, which came in at about what analysts had been expecting. With that said the stock continued to fall, hitting new 52-week lows along with Stratasys. So what did this morning’s report offer the market? Pretty much what was expected.

Stratasys reported earnings per share for the first quarter of $0.04, which was slightly better than the $0.03 per share average that analysts had been expecting. The company also slightly beat expectations on revenue, reporting $172.70 million for the quarter. Analysts had been expecting $172.60 million. Gross profit for the quarter ($46 million) fell well shy of last year’s first quarter in which the company reported a profit of $77.7 million.

“We continue to see significant long-term opportunity in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing market,” David Reis, chief executive officer of Stratasys stated. “We believe we are offering a transformative alternative to conventional manufacturing, design and engineering processes, and maintain an attractive pipeline of future opportunities. Although we have modified our near-term operating and capital investment plans to align with softness in market conditions, we will remain focused on the future, and continue to execute on a multi-year investment plan designed to drive accelerated adoption of 3D printing solutions and increased sales growth.”

The company reported total sales of 3D printers for the quarter, both from their MakerBot consumer brand as well as their industrial scale line of machines, of 7,536, and has sold a total of 129,197 machines on a pro forma combined basis worldwide as of March 31st of this year.

As for guidance for the full year, 2015, Stratasys is expecting earnings per share to fall somewhere between $1.20 and $1.70. This is slightly above the analyst consensus of $1.40 per share. Additionally, the company is expecting revenues of between $800 and $860 million for the year, once again trumping analysts’ estimates of $826.17 million.

In early trading, the market seems to like what they’ve seen in this report. Shares of Stratasys are trading up $0.86 or 2.43% in the pre-market.

The next several quarters will be important to watch, as the company has made significant moves within their consumer targeted MakerBot division, cutting costs and further integrating the subsidiary into their main operations. Let’s hear your thoughts on this latest report in the Stratasys Q1 Earnings forum thread on 3DPB.com.