Breaking News: Sharp Decline in Stock Prices of Two Major 3D Printing Companies

On February 26, 2025, Panda3dp.com observed a significant drop in the stock prices of two U.S.-listed 3D printing companies, Materialise and Velo3D. Materialise (MTLS) saw its stock plummet from approximately $9 to around $6, bringing its total market capitalization down to $360 million. Meanwhile, Velo3D experienced an even more dramatic plunge, with its share price collapsing from about $0.90 to $0.33 in a single day—a staggering 66% decline—leaving its market value at merely $64.29 million.  

△Recently, the stock prices of international 3D printing companies Materialise (MTLS) and Velo3D (VLDX) have suffered consecutive sharp declines.

Panda3dp.com delves into the industry dynamics and corporate fundamentals to uncover the underlying causes of this stock market turbulence.  

Financial Performance Falling Short of Expectations  

Recently, Materialise released its financial report for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. The company recorded an annual revenue of €266.8 million, reflecting a 4.2% increase compared to 2023. The medical segment remained the primary growth driver, boasting a 14.8% year-on-year rise. However, its software segment saw a 1.2% decline, with revenue falling to €43.9 million, while the manufacturing division contracted by 3.4%, generating €106.5 million. The overall financial performance failed to meet investor expectations, triggering the stock's downward spiral.  

Materialise commented: "The deteriorating macroeconomic climate in Europe, coupled with a sluggish automotive sector in the fourth quarter, has exacerbated challenges for our traditional business lines. To navigate these headwinds, we initiated a restructuring of our 3D printing manufacturing operations in Q4, aiming to cut costs in 2025."  

In contrast, Velo3D faces an even more severe financial crisis. Although its full-year 2024 financial report has yet to be released, the company’s revenue for the first half of 2024 plunged by 59% year-over-year, reaching just $10.34 million, with substantial losses. Its financial performance has fallen far short of analyst projections.  

In July 2024, Velo3D received a delisting warning from the New York Stock Exchange due to its market capitalization dropping below the required threshold. While a reverse stock split temporarily averted delisting, concerns about the company’s long-term viability persist. In December, Velo3D's creditor, Arrayed Additive, opted to convert its debt into equity, effectively acquiring 95% of Velo3D’s outstanding shares. That same month, at the board’s behest, Velo3D's founder and former CEO, Benny Buller, stepped down, further fueling market anxieties regarding the company’s strategic direction. These accumulating financial risks and internal instability have severely undermined investor confidence, leading to a drastic stock price decline.  

Shifting Technological Competitive Landscape  

The rise of Chinese metal 3D printing firms has intensified pressure on Western counterparts. Data from 2024 indicates that Chinese manufacturers accounted for a commanding 74% of global metal powder bed fusion (PBF) equipment shipments. Companies such as BLT, EPlus3D, Farsoon, and Hanbang Laser have rapidly gained market share through innovations in multi-laser systems, large-format printing, and support-free printing technologies. Their ability to iterate technology swiftly and maintain cost advantages has directly squeezed the market space for international players like Velo3D.  

Back in 2019, Velo3D garnered attention with its groundbreaking support-free or minimal-support metal 3D printing technology, which allowed for the fabrication of complex components without the need for support structures. This innovation enhanced design flexibility while reducing post-processing time and costs. However, from 2021 onward, German firms such as EOS and SLM Solutions began introducing their own support-free metal 3D printing technologies. By 2023, Chinese manufacturers—including BLT, Farsoon, and EPlus3D—had also rolled out their own versions, often outperforming Velo3D in terms of laser integration, build volume, and printing efficiency.  

As competitors continue to push technological boundaries, Velo3D’s once-distinct advantages have eroded, raising doubts among investors regarding its future profitability and market position. This skepticism has, in turn, fueled the continued decline in its stock price.   

Leveraging both technological breakthroughs and cost efficiencies, Chinese 3D printing enterprises are redefining the global competitive landscape. Notably, among the world's top five publicly listed 3D printing companies by market capitalization, four are now Chinese firms.  

Meanwhile, Chinese 3D Printing Stocks Surge  

△During the same period, shares of Chinese 3D printing companies BLT (688333) and Farsoon (688433) experienced a meteoric rise.

A stark contrast has emerged between Chinese and international 3D printing markets. While Velo3D's stock continues its freefall, its Chinese counterparts—BLT and Farsoon—are witnessing an unprecedented surge in their valuations.  

As large-scale industrial adoption of 3D printing gains traction—particularly with manufacturing giants like Apple and Huawei integrating additive manufacturing into their production chains—the gap between Chinese and Western 3D printing firms becomes ever more apparent. The global manufacturing epicenter remains firmly anchored in China, and with it, the true industrialization of 3D printing is also unfolding in the region. The beneficiaries of this historic transition are, without question, Chinese manufacturers.  

In Panda3dp.com’s publication Deepseek: The Overlooked Potential of 3D Printing, one passage stands out: "True revolutions are never about a single dazzling product but about the fundamental restructuring of an entire production system. As we celebrate advancements in AI and humanoid robotics, these quietly evolving 3D printing enterprises may very well be shaping the most robust future for China's intelligent manufacturing."