Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS – Get Free Report) and Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB – Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Stratasys and Proto Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Stratasys | -21.05% | -1.77% | -1.38% |
| Proto Labs | 5.44% | 4.80% | 4.22% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Stratasys and Proto Labs, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Stratasys | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Proto Labs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3.25 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
75.8% of Stratasys shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Proto Labs shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Stratasys shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Proto Labs shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Stratasys has a beta of 1.93, indicating that its stock price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Proto Labs has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Stratasys and Proto Labs”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Stratasys | $551.10 million | 1.18 | -$104.29 million | ($1.34) | -5.65 |
| Proto Labs | $533.13 million | 3.53 | $21.24 million | $1.25 | 63.01 |
Proto Labs has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Stratasys. Stratasys is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Proto Labs, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Proto Labs beats Stratasys on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Stratasys
Stratasys Ltd. provides connected polymer-based 3D printing solutions. It offers range of 3D printing systems, which includes polyjet printer, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers, stereolithography printing systems, origin P3 printers, and selective absorption fusion printer for additive manufacturing, and tooling and rapid prototyping for various vertical markets, such as automotive, aerospace, consumer products and healthcare. The company provides consumable materials, including 3D printing materials comprising FDM, polyjet, and stereolithography materials for manufacturing applications, such as jigs and fixtures, investment casting, and injection mold or composite tooling applications; and other material. In addition, it offers software and services, which includes cloud, desktop and mobile technologies comprising GrabCAD, an additive manufacturing platform to manage production-scale operations; and GrabCAD Print, job programming software enables the unique features of 3D printing technologies, such as creating lightweight, structurally sound infills for FDM, and multi-material and color and material management for polyjet. The company also provides GrabCAD Shop including scheduling, remote monitoring, and analytics; GrabCAD Connect provides two-way SDK integration for third-party software applications; and GrabCAD Community, an online community of professional engineers, designers, manufacturers and students who share their practices through tutorials, discussion forums, design/print challenges, and 3D content. Further, it offers GrabCAD Shop, which simplifies 3D printing shop workflow; GrabCAD Streamline Software Development Kit (SDK) to support enterprise goals such as system connectivity, compliance, and workflow automation; and Grab CAD Software Partner program for independent software vendors. The company sells its products through a network of resellers and independent sales agents worldwide. Stratasys Ltd. is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
About Proto Labs
Proto Labs, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital manufacturer of custom parts in the United States and Europe. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional printing; and sheet metal fabrication products. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end-markets. Proto Labs, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Maple Plain, Minnesota.
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