3D Systems has had a tough year, as have many of the biggest and publicly-traded 3D printing companies. Last week, the company announced that Avi Reichental has stepped down as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. He will also resign as a Director of the Company, effective at the close of business on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, by mutual agreement with the Company's Board of Directors.
Avi Reichental is credited with making a positive impact, according to the public statement. "Over the past 12 years, Avi has helped build 3D Systems into a global leader in 3D design and digital fabrication and we thank him for his many contributions," said G. Walter Loewenbaum II, Chairman of the 3DS Board of Directors.
"We are profoundly grateful for the visionary leadership Avi has provided to our business and to our industry, and we wish him well in his future endeavors," said Charles Hull, Co-founder, Director, Chairman of the Executive Management Committee and Chief Technology Officer, 3DS.
Aside from the standard corporate-speak, online sentiment expressed appreciation for Reichental’s work as well as respect. It came as a sudden shock to those in the 3D printing group on
Andrew Johnson will serve as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, in addition to his continued role as Chief Legal Officer. Reuters reported on October 29 that shares had dropped 7 percent in premarket trading and it is roughly at the same position as this post goes live.
3D Systems is known as one of the pioneers in the 3D printer space with Charles “Chuck” Hull, co-founder of the company, as one of the early inventors of the first 3D printer. The company continues to innovate in many areas including plastics, metals, ceramics and edibles.
I cited them in my post on Stratasys and its investment in Desktop Metal.
Again, like others in the space, stock prices were much higher in 2014, but the past two years have been an up and down ride for all, not only 3D Systems. Only a few months ago, in June, I posted my opinion, on how it is a crazy stock market for 3-D printing stocks, but that there is more to it than only consumer sentiment. You can read it here: $4.1 Billion Industry Forecast In Crazy 3-D Printing Stock Market.
In that post, I shared Panos Mourdoukoutas perspective on the volatile 3D stocks, and cited his Forbes post: Why Wall Street May Have Been Too Fast, Dumping 3D Printer Stocks. His approach of looking at patents (and applications) instead of sales and adoption rates, offers a way to determine a long-term investment opportunity. Here’s what he said:
“This indicator shows that the industry is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2013, for instance, 600 patents were issued relating to additive manufacturing, up from 80 patents in 2005. That’s close to an 800% gain, with Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS), 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD),
Xerox , IBM, and HP being some of the companies that have been filing a big chunk of these patents.” — Panos Mourdoukoutas
3D Systems will find a new President and CEO and hopefully begin to climb out of its low stock price. While this resignation may have been simmering in the background, it does not appear to be slowing down its sales, marketing or strategic moves as the company announced an agreement with the U.S. Army on the following day: 3D Systems Launches 3D Printing Lab with U.S. Army
This new partnership with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) will seek to be the nation’s premier research center for land forces, to jointly develop 3D printing technology and materials for automotive, medical, wearable, aerospace, and other commercial and defense applications at the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.
