What Happened?

Shares of 3D printing company 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) jumped 16.7% in the morning session after the company revealed plans to sell its Geomagic® software portfolio, which includes tools for reverse engineering, design, and inspection, to Hexagon for $123 million. The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2025. After the deal, management intends to focus on software solutions that drive the adoption of 3D printing technologies. The proceeds from the sale should also boost 3D Systems's cash position, equipping management with more resources to drive the growth of its core 3D business.

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What The Market Is Telling Us

3D Systems’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 67 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for 3D Systems and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business. 

The previous big move we wrote about was 28 days ago when the stock dropped 22.4% on the news that the company reported preliminary third-quarter sales results which fell below Wall Street's expectations. The sales weakness was attributed to macro factors that affected the demand for hardware systems. The company also noted that there were delays in closing some transactions, which resulted in the affected deals being pushed to the fourth quarter. Overall, the results indicate the company is yet to overcome some of the challenges that have contributed to the declining sales recorded in the previous quarters.

3D Systems is down 34% since the beginning of the year, and at $4.06 per share, it is trading 40.2% below its 52-week high of $6.79 from December 2023. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of 3D Systems’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $455.02.

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