Voxeljet (NYSE:VJET) Reports First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

We are approaching the middle of May and that usually means one thing for investors of 3D printing stocks; first quarter earnings reports. After lackluster results from the two giants within the industry, 3D Systems and Stratasys, and a reporting delay by ExOne at the market’s close yesterday, it was finally time to see how German-based voxeljet AG (NYSE:VJET) had fared in the first quarter.

The company reported impressive top line growth with revenue coming in at 5.59 million EUR, up 104.1% over last year’s first quarter results. Gross margin, however, fell to 33.6% compared to 39.4% last year, as competition may have squeezed out potential profits. The company also reported a loss of 0.49 EUR per share for the quarter, versus a loss of 0.22 EUR per share just a year prior.

“I am pleased with our first quarter results which reflect the increased adoption of 3D printing in industrial and commercial applications. Demand for both our systems and on-demand printed parts remains robust,” explained Dr. Ingo Ederer, Chief Executive Officer of voxeljet. “We sold four printers in the quarter compared to two printers in last year’s same quarter and generated record revenues in both sand and plastic parts.”

The company breaks revenue down into two main segments, “Systems” and “Services”. Systems revenue, which includes the sale and maintenance of 3D printers, as well as spare parts and consumables, rose a staggering 114.7% quarter over quarter. Almost equally impressive is the rise in revenue from voxeljet’s Services segment, which includes on-demand printing of parts for customers. For this segment, revenue rose 94.3% from 1.42 million EUR for the first quarter of 2014 to 2.77 million EUR for the first quarter of 2015.

“We began printing parts at our service facility in Detroit in the first quarter of 2015 and our direct operating presence in that market is creating greater awareness of voxeljet’s capabilities and is driving customer interest across North America, explained Ederer. We are off to a good start for the year and we reaffirm our full year 2015 guidance of revenue between kEUR 23,000 and kEUR 24,000 for the group.”

With the uncertainty within the market as of late, it should please investors to see that guidance for the year remains on track, as the company expects no major surprises. Below you will find a few additional highlights of this quarter’s report:

• Operating loss for quarter of 1.46 million EUR as compared to 603,000 EUR during Q1 of 2014.
• Net loss for the quarter was 1.63 million EUR as compared to 711,000 EUR during Q1 of 2014.
• R & D Expenses nearly doubled from 848,000 EUR to 1.56 million EUR quarter over quarter.
• Gross profit margin for the Services segment decreased from 47.8% to 39.9% quarter over quarter.
• Gross profit margin for the Systems segment decreased from 30.3% to 27.4% quarter over quarter.
• The company saw a net rise in employees of 15, going from 26 employees on March 31, 2014, to 41 on March 31, 2015.

All in all, the report wasn’t anything too unexpected as the stock is currently trading up about 1% following its release yesterday. Are you an investor in voxeljet? What are your thoughts on these financial results? Discuss in the voxeljet Earnings forum thread on 3DPB.com.