[rp-ml] Fabber stocks

Doing some year-end analysis, I've noticed that 3D Systems stock is up by a
multiple of about 3 over 2010 and Stratasys by a multiple of about 2. This
may be the best annual performance of the industry's stocks since 3D's big
spike in its early days in 1989 (which it completely lost in 1990).

I ran some charts at Yahoo to see this in more detail. The following two
charts compare the stock performance of 3D Systems and Stratasys with the
Dow Jones and NASDAQ ("IXIC") indices. The first one covers last year, and
the second the maximum range of the Yahoo interactive charts:

                www.fabbers.com/image/stocks/FabberStocks-2010.jpg

                www.fabbers.com/image/stocks/FabberStocks-1991..2010.jpg

In the 2010 chart, we see that Stratasys had a very sharp spike of about 50%
around the middle of January, and then added about another 50% rise over the
rest of the year. 3D, on the other hand, grew in value by about 50% over the
first 10-1/2 months, had a large spike around the end of October, and then
continued to climb from there. More interestingly, both stocks have left the
broader market's impressive gains for the year in the dust.

In the longer-range chart, Stratasys is the star, multiplying in value over
18 times since its inception in 1994, with 3D not quite doubling since
either 1991 or 1994. We see in this chart the painful experience of those of
us who were here ten years ago, when this industry completely sat out the
huge tech boom of the late 90s. But then in 2003, Stratasys began to outpace
the NASDAQ, and has continued to do so ever since.

I'd like to ask what people here think of the stock performance of these two
companies over the past year. Is it based in actual technology or business
developments, or is there some other reason the market is taking interest in
these companies like it hasn't before? Was there a discernible reason for
Stratasys spike in January, and for 3D's in October? Also, does anyone know
of any other public companies in this industry today, now that DTM, Helisys,
and Soligen are gone?

Regards,

Marshall Burns

www.fabbers.com

 
Received on Sat Jan 15 10:26:48 2011