Equities News: Investing in the 4D printing industry
Is 3D printing dead?
In a decade, 3D printing became the most popular buzzword in the world. Investors piled in… and 3D-printing stocks took off like a rocket.
3D Systems
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DDD – $8.60 0.20 (2.273%) ) — a leading 3D-printing company at the time — soared 1,000% between late 2011 and early 2014.
Stratasys
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SSYS – $14.03 0.31 (2.162%) ) — another poster child of the 3D-printing boom — jumped nearly 7x during the same period.
Back then, people thought 3D printing would democratize manufacturing… and that we’d all have 3D printers inside our homes.
It was never true. And when the industry failed to live up to expectations, the 3D-printing bubble popped…
3D Systems has dropped by 93% between January 2015 and January 2016. Stratasys’ stock fell by 89% in the same time period.
What if I told you 3D printing wasn’t a flop… the hype was simply a decade too early.
Today, 3D printing is disrupting industries left and right… giving investors a second chance to profit from companies fueling the boom.
3D Printing Has Gotten a Major Upgrade to a newer version
If you’re not familiar with how this tech works, 3D printers allow you to “print” objects similarly to how an inkjet prints on paper.
Starting from scratch, a 3D printer builds objects layer by layer… stacking thin slices of materials (like plastics and metals) from the bottom up.
Early 3D printing technologies were great for prototyping and modeling. These machines were used by industries from aerospace to architecture to go quickly from the drawing board to a prototype.
As an example, in 2011, Ducati’s motorcycle company cut the development time for a racing engine by 20 months or 70% thanks to 3D prototyping.
But these early models had their limitations…
Plastic was the primary material used in early 3D printers. Great for prototypes… but you can’t make airplane wings, most car parts, or thousands of other high-value items with plastic.
Modern 3D printing technologies allow metals and concrete to be used.
Boeing (
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BA – $203.03 0.84 (0.415%) ) — one of the two biggest plane makers in the world — now 3D prints thousands of titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner. It’s shaved $3 million off the cost of each plane thanks to this technology.
Rolls-Royce (
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RYCEY – $0. 0.01 (0.543%) )’s upcoming 3D-printed UltraFan jet engine will use 25% less fuel than its predecessor.
Just a few weeks ago, at Cape Canaveral in Florida, a rocket measuring 34 meters tall was launched. 85 percent of the rocket’s parts were 3D printed.
“Super-sized” 3D printers can even create full-sized houses in a matter of days…
Here’s one stacking concrete:
Source: ArchDaily
This is disrupting traditional construction in a huge way…
The 3D printer combines multiple trades in one and requires fewer workers. Also, it saves time. 3D-printed houses can be constructed in just a few days, instead of weeks or months.
Construction costs are reduced by 50%.
The new 3D printing technology is also inspiring new design. For example, it’s difficult and expensive to build curved walls with standard construction. With 3D printing, it’s a breeze.
New kinds of materials could unlock 4D printing…
Smart Materials – Have you Heard?
When exposed to different elements, these special materials can fold, expand, or change shape.
You can “program” them to react to touch, light, temperature, electricity, different chemicals, and so on.
4D printing could use smart materials to bring daily objects “to life.”
For example, you could print a power cord that neatly folds into a tiny roll when unplugged and then loosens up again once electricity flows through it… a sun umbrella that perfectly tracks the sun’s direction… or even furniture that assembles itself.
The 4D printing technology has the potential to revolutionize health care. Doctors could implant medical devices that would change shape once they reached a specific part of the body.
There are almost no limitations to the possibilities.
Here’s how we’ll make money from this disruption…
3D-printing stock is on sale right now. And their businesses are doing great…
Autodesk – (
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ADSK – $189.90 0.31 (0.163%) For example, ) produces 3D design software. It’s a stock I recommended back in 2018 — and it went on to gain 145%. The company’s latest quarterly results showed a record of $5 billion in sales.
And it’s not alone…
3D printing companies Desktop Metal (
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DM – $2.17 0. (0%) Ansys
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ANSS – $311.24 1.46 (0.467%) Nano Dimension (
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NNDM – $2.39 0. (0%) In their latest financial results, ) reported record sales.
A simple, one-click way to buy each of these companies — and other 3D-printing stocks — is through the 3D Printing ETF (
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PRNT – $22.00 0.13 (0.626%) ).
PRNT currently trades 56% from its all-time highs, giving you a second chance to profit from “phase two” of the 3D-printing megatrend.
