Shares in Stratasys (NSDQ:SSYS) rose today after the 3D-printing giant met expectations on Wall Street with its fourth quarter and full year 2018 earnings release.
Minneapolis- and Rehovot, Israel-based Stratasys posted profits of $6.3 million, or 12¢ per share, on sales of $177.1 million for the three months ended December 31, seeing a swing from red ink in the bottom line while sales shrunk 1.2% compared with the same period during the previous year.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 21¢, just in line with consensus on Wall Street.
For the full year, Stratasys posted losses of approximately $11 million, or 22¢ per share, on sales of $663.2 million, seeing losses shrink 72.6% while sales shrunk 0.8% compared with the previous year.
“We are pleased with our fourth quarter and full year profitability, and finished 2018 with record cash flow from operations as we continue to build a strong operational foundation for future growth opportunities and to invest in accelerating new product introductions to expand our addressable markets. Our consolidated top line results this quarter reflect continued positive traction in high-end system and materials sales for our PolyJet and FDM technology platforms, primarily in North America, offset partially by the impact late in the quarter of the government shutdown in the United States and what we believe is temporary weakness in the Automotive sector in Europe,” interim CEO Elchanan Jaglom said in a press release.
Stratasys released guidance for 2019, expecting to post sales of between $670 million and $700 million with non-GAAP net income of between $30 million and $38 million, or between 55¢ and 70¢ per diluted share.
“We are entering into 2019 with an impressive roadmap of new technology and products, and continued, steady progress in customer adoption of our additive manufacturing solutions for advanced applications in our target verticals of aerospace, automotive, healthcare, and high-realism rapid prototyping. We are excited about our recent and upcoming new product introductions and believe that we will see accelerated growth beginning in 2020,” Jaglom said in a prepared statement.
Shares in Stratasys rose 1.3% today, closing at $23.24.
