NEW YORK--Shares of ExOne Co. (XONE) rose in their
public-trading debut, as the printer plugged in to investor
enthusiasm for its three-dimensional products.
Shares opened at $23.66 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Thursday,
advancing 31% beyond their $18 offer price, then traded at $25
recently.
ExOne, of North Huntingdon, Penn., makes machines that build 3-D
models and components. Most of its customers are in the aerospace,
automotive and heavy-equipment industries. The machines cost as
much as $1.4 million, and ExOne says it counts customers that
include Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Boeing Co.
(BA).
ExOne raised the size of its deal on the eve of the offering,
boosting by 300,000 the number of shares issued and raising the
price range for its stock. The deal brought in $95.4 million, up
from the $80 million originally listed as the high end for proceeds
to be raised in prospectus documents filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
The healthy investor appetite for ExOne shares comes as peers
such as 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) and Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) have seen
their stock prices triple and double in the past year,
respectively.
The process of 3-D printing involves joining materials from a
digital model, usually layer by layer, to make physical objects.
ExOne's machines are capable of creating production-grade objects
and castings out of steel, bronze, glass and aluminum. In addition
to molds, its printers are able to produce usable parts and product
prototypes.
The broad array of materials in ExOne models distinguishes the
company from competitors that only produce plastics, according to
Daniel Holland, an analyst covering industrial stocks for
Morningstar Inc., in a research report issued in advance of the
IPO.
"ExOne enters as a pure-play in industrial-use metal
applications," Mr. Holland said.
ExOne's business is growing, but amid low volume. It shipped 13
units in 2012, up from four a year earlier.
ExOne generated $15.9 million in revenue from the sale of five
of those units in the first nine months of last year, and has
posted losses in each calendar year since 2010, according to its
filings.
FBR & Co. (FBRC) served as the lead underwriter for ExOne's
IPO.
Write to Chris Dieterich at
christopher.dieterich@dowjones.com
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