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Stratasys warns Q3 will fall short, plots MakerBot writedown

3D printer maker Stratasys continues to struggle as customers hold back on orders. The company says it will write down the value of its MakerBot unit.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

3D printer maker Stratasys said its third quarter earnings and revenue will fall short of expectations and the company will write down the value of its MakerBot unit.

Stratasys, a former high-flyer, has taken its lumps as customers have pulled back on spending. Stratasys maintains that the future is solid for 3D printing, but said it will retool as orders slow.

The company said third quarter revenue will be between $166 million and $168 million a non-GAAP loss 3 cents a share to a profit of 2 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting non-GAAP earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $184.6 billion for the third quarter.

Also see: HP: Could it buy Stratasys, accelerate 3D printing drive? | HP Inc.'s future growth rides on 3D printing inroads | Stratasys cuts outlook; says easy growth over for 3D printing

In addition, Stratasys said it will post a net loss of $3.66 a share to $2.98 a share due to a goodwill impairment charge related to its MakerBot unit. MakerBot is Stratasys' consumer 3D printer play, but the enterprise systems deliver the margins. Stratasys said it is doing an impairment analysis for its units and may take more charges.

Given Stratasys' woes the calls for an HP takeover are likely to grow among Wall Street analysts.

Stratasys said it is seeing a series of issues such as a weaker economy, lower capital spending and excess capacity. What Stratasys didn't mention was the entry of HP to the 3D printer market in 2016. That entry may have also froze the market somewhat as customers hold off making big strategic bets on vendors.

CEO David Reis said in a statement:

We are disappointed with our third quarter results, which reflect a continuation of the challenging macroeconomic environment and weaker conditions in our market that we observed in the first half of 2015. Despite these near-term challenges, we remain convinced of the long-term growth opportunity within 3D printing. We will continue to make the adjustments to our structure and operating costs in light of market conditions, but we are moving forward with the longer-term initiatives that we believe will help position our company for future growth, including enhancements to our go-to-market strategy and aggressive investments around new product development.
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