Protolabs has one of the fastest-growing stocks among Minnesota companies this year. The enthusiasm is fueled by a recent acquisition and promising announcements within the 3-D printing industry.
The Maple Plain-based company's shares have spiked nearly 50% this year. Shares of Stratasys, the 3-D printer manufacturer that is based in Eden Prairie and Israel, have risen even more.
While each company does have some interest from short sellers, the recent run-up does not appear to be driven by attention retail investors have given to GameStop, AMC and others.
This week, Protolabs, a contract manufacturer, closed on a $280 million deal to acquire 3D Hubs, an online manufacturing platform that was founded in 2013 and is based in Amsterdam.
When the deal was first announced on Jan. 19, the company said the deal with 3D Hubs would provide more manufacturing partners to its network and give its customers more pricing and lead-time options.
"Our combined organizations will provide the market an industry-leading digital manufacturing solution to serve their needs from idea to prototype to full end-use part production," said Protolabs incoming chief executive, Rob Bodor, in the news release announcing the deal. "Together we can fulfill nearly every custom manufacturing need across the product life cycle."
"That company gets them more into a distributed manufacturing paradigm, where they could feasibly set up production plants closer to the companies they are servicing," said Al Steinkopf, vice president and portfolio manager at the St. Paul-based investment advisory firm Mairs and Power, which owns shares in Protolabs.
Steinkopf also noted that both Protolabs and Stratasys are in the top 10 in holdings in a 3-D printing exchange-traded fund that has raised attention of the sector and has been performing well in 2021.