Boston, MA 08/14/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Three-dimensional printing machines provider ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE) disclosed that it suffered gross margin erosion of more than 50% in the second quarter hurt by near-term investments apart from an unfavorable mix. However, the company hopes to increase its gross margin considerably in the second half of the current year to offset the weaknesses it had encountered in the first half.
Gross Margin Outlook
ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE)’s gross margin plummeted to 22.3% from 45.3% in the previous year quarter. It is more or less similar for the first half of the current year too with gross margin reading at 22.3% compared to 40.9% in the prior year quarter. It had blamed unfavorable mix of machine sale revenue compared to non-machine apart from investments in its ExCast strategy. These apart, it had to absorb costs related with its PSC network expansion.
However, Ex-One expects to close the year with a gross margin adjusted to 32% – 36% , which meant that it had to improve its pricing vastly to offset the weakness recorded in the first half. The company hopes to benefit from sales mix and also accommodate more development costs.
The 3-D printing machines provider also reaffirmed its revenue growth expectations of 40% – 50% in the current calendar year of 2014. On average, Wall Street analysts’ expect the company to generate 39% revenue uptick to $54.89 million.
CEO Comments
ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE) chairman and CEO Kent Rockwell expressed the confidence in meeting its sales expectations in view of the demand from its growing industrial customers’ base. However, he had warned that the timing of order flow could be unpredictable.
The CEO also felt that the foundation laid currently by probing market opportunities would undoubtedly take them to success in the next year and beyond.
2Q Results
ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE) suffered a net loss of $4.67 million or a loss of 32 cents a share in the second quarter, wider than a net loss of $1.12 million or a loss of eights cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Its revenue increased 21% to $11.2 million from $9.23 million in the previous year quarter.
