Technology

Voxeljet IPO Printing Money in 3D

Garden gnomes
Source: Thinkstock
Germany-based Voxeljet A.G. (NYSE: VJET) held its initial public offering (IPO) Friday morning, selling 6.5 million shares at $13, the low end of its expected range of $13 to $15. The 3D printer maker probably wishes it had thought harder about that pricing. Shares were up nearly 90% in the first 90 minutes of trading.

Investors cannot seem to get enough of 3D printing IPOs. In February, the ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE) IPO went out at $18 and hit a peak near $79 by mid-August. ExOne shares rose about 50% on their first day of trading, but it looks like Voxeljet is set to beat that showing.

Voxeljet makes large-format 3D printing devices and provides on-demand parts services to industrial and commercial customers. The company claims an installed base of 52 printers worldwide and 2012 revenues of €8.7 million ($11.9 million), up from €4.8 million in 2010. As of June 30, the company said the value of its backlog totals €5.1 million.

The company plans to use the net proceeds of the IPO to expand its on-demand parts service center in Europe and to build new on-demand parts service centers in North America and Asia. Voxeljet also expects to boost its R&D and its sales and marketing investments. Part of the proceeds also will go to general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.

ExOne got a boost Friday from Voxeljet’s showing, up about 1.8% at $53.90 in late morning trading. 3D Systems Inc. (NYSE: DDD) traded down about 1.2% to $56.08, and Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was down about 0.4% at $109.21.

Voxeljet’s shares were up 91.3% to $24.95, after hitting a peak of $25.42 earlier in the morning.

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