Is Protolabs a 3D Printing Stock Yet?

We recently wrote about the dismal performance of 3D printing stocks which might be explained by a shift in the business model for the 3D printing industry from a 3D printer on every corner to what we used to call “3D printing bureaus.” It’s a revolution for the manufacturing industry, something that’s now being called “on-demand manufacturing” among other things. The focus is on using multiple manufacturing methods – injection molding, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, 3D printing, and sheet metal fabrication – to manufacture custom parts for customers using software solutions to streamline the process. One company has become the world’s largest and fastest digital manufacturer of custom prototypes and on-demand production parts – Protolabs.

Protolabs Reinvents Manufacturing

Founded in 1999, Protolabs (PRLB) is a $2.7 billion manufacturing company that started out by developing an automated process for producing injection-molded parts in a fraction of the time and cost it had taken before. Over the years, they have made strategic acquisitions to expand their production capabilities in the areas of CNC m