Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) announcement mid last week regarding its entry into the 3D printing market led to a mini collapse among the current prominent players such as Stratasys (SSYS) and 3D Systems (DDD). However, as the initial bout of selling subsided, shares gained some ground as investors realized that HP 3D Print systems would not begin to ship until 2016, leaving these companies approximately a year’s time to expand their market share.

Nevertheless, H-P can leverage its strong sales network to reach out to a wider number of customers in a short span of time. Moreover, H-P 3D printing solutions are based on Multi Jet Fusion Technology which is expected to deliver higher productivity and quality in a cost effective manner. These two factors along with H-P’s large scale of operations and significant research and development budget are expected to enable it to become a dominant force in the 3D printing market.

Also, now that the company is expected to split into two separate units, it would be able to focus on the emerging 3D printing segment as well.

Industry experts believe that despite the increasing competition, all the 3D printing solution providers have enough scope to grow and carve out position for themselves.

Moreover, favorable forecasts by market research firms such as Gartner, IDC and Canalys make the 3D technology stocks an attractive investment option. Per Gartner, worldwide shipments of 3D printers are expected to increase 100% through 2018. IDC predicted that the 3D printer market will witness a compound annual growth rate of 29% from 2012–2017. Canalys expects the global 3D printing market to soar from $2.5 billion in 2013 to $16.2 billion in 2018.

The 3D printing market presents a favorable long-term investment opportunity as a large number of engineers, designers, architects and entrepreneurs are resorting to 3D solutions for their primary designing and product modeling. We, therefore, believe that the adoption rate and cost control measures will be important factors determining the fortune of the players in this segment.

Currently, H-P and Stratasys have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while 3D Systems has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Investors may also consider DST Systems (DST) which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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Read the Full Research Report on SSYS
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