3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) reported a return to revenue growth in the first quarter of 2026, with management pointing to stronger demand across healthcare, dental and aerospace and defense markets, as well as early traction from newly refreshed printer platforms.
President and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Graves said the additive manufacturing industry is “beginning to emerge from a multi-year trough” caused by global economic and geopolitical pressures that had led customers to restrict capital spending. He said the company’s decision to maintain research and development investment through that downturn is now showing up in a refreshed portfolio across metal and polymer printing systems.
“No company in our industry can match this range of technologies, nor the product performance that these systems can deliver,” Graves said, adding that the company focused its R&D spending on three key growth markets: aerospace and defense, medtech and dental.
Revenue rises 11% as healthcare becomes the larger segment
Chief Financial Officer Phyllis Nordstrom said first-quarter consolidated revenue totaled $95.5 million, up 11% year over year. She noted that comparisons were presented on an adjusted basis excluding the 2025 divestitures of the Geomagic, 3DXpert and Oqton legacy software businesses.
Nordstrom said growth was broad across the company’s core product categories, with printers, materials and parts manufacturing each delivering double-digit growth compared with the prior-year period. She said medtech, dental and aerospace and defense each posted meaningful double-digit growth in the quarter.
Industrial Solutions revenue was $45.4 million, up 1.6% year over year. Nordstrom said aerospace and defense, the largest end market within Industrial Solutions, grew more than 20%, helped by strength in metal printer sales. Automotive and semiconductor markets also returned to growth, though results were partly offset by lower demand in certain regions tied to the conflict in the Middle East, primarily affecting the jewelry business.
Healthcare Solutions revenue rose 21% to $50.1 million, surpassing Industrial Solutions as the company’s larger segment in the quarter. Nordstrom said the increase was driven by dental and medtech, including higher printer and material sales and demand for healthcare parts, particularly orthopedic medical implants.
Dental momentum builds around NextDent 300
Graves highlighted dental as one of the company’s strongest areas of momentum, citing double-digit year-over-year growth in dental material sales. He said demand was supported by both aligner materials and prosthetic materials for tooth repair sold under the Vertex brand. The company received U.S. regulatory approval for Vertex-Dental materials late last year after what Graves described as a protracted trademark negotiation, expanding the market opportunity for those materials.
Graves also said the company’s NextDent 300 denture printing platform has been well received by dental labs and dentists. He cited ROE Dental Laboratory as the first major U.S. dental lab to deploy an extensive fleet of the systems across multiple sites. According to Graves, ROE expanded its purchases after the U.S. launch in fall 2025, effectively tripling its manufacturing capacity for high-precision, multi-material monolithic dentures.
Graves said the company recently received European Union Phase IIA approval for its denture printing solution two months ahead of schedule. With U.S. and EU approvals in place, he said the company has expanded its addressable market to more than 60 million edentulous patients, or roughly one-third of the global market.
“The NextDent 300 has been the most successful new product launch since my arrival at 3D Systems five years ago,” Graves said, citing few installation issues, rapid integration into lab workflows and acceptance by dentists.
Aerospace and defense demand supports metal printing expansion
Graves said aerospace and defense remains the largest and one of the fastest-growing segments within Industrial Solutions. He said the company continues to expect more than 20% growth in aerospace and defense markets this year, equivalent to approximately $35 million in revenue in 2026.
Management said demand is being driven by space, naval and aero propulsion applications, along with increased use of advanced flight and weapon systems in unmanned aerial vehicles and precision munitions. Graves cited examples including titanium antenna brackets for satellite systems that are 25% lighter and can be produced in half the time compared with traditional methods, as well as turbine blades for jet engines and industrial turbines.
To support demand, 3D Systems is expanding its Littleton, Colorado, facility by adding 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space for metal components. Graves said the facility is on track for a late-summer opening and will be dedicated to industrial parts manufacturing, with a focus on aerospace applications.
During the question-and-answer session, Graves said the new space will target difficult-to-produce materials including titanium, zirconium, nickel-based materials and copper-nickel alloys. He said nickel-based alloys are primarily tied to aircraft and rocket propulsion, while copper applications are for the Navy.
Margins improve as cost reductions take hold
Nordstrom said first-quarter non-GAAP gross margin was 36.1%, up 6 percentage points from the prior-year period on an adjusted basis. She attributed the improvement to better manufacturing absorption from higher production and sales volume, favorable consumables mix, improved printer margins and benefits from cost-reduction initiatives.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were $36.6 million, down 35%, or $20.1 million, from the prior-year period after adjusting for divestitures. Sequentially, non-GAAP operating expenses declined 11%, or $4.3 million. Nordstrom said the company has delivered more than $55 million in annualized cost savings through the end of the first quarter and expects to complete its defined cost-reduction and efficiency programs by the end of the second quarter.
First-quarter adjusted EBITDA was positive $2.1 million, an improvement of $26 million year over year, or $28.2 million when adjusted for divestitures. Non-GAAP loss per share improved to $0.01 from a loss of $0.21 in the prior-year period.
Nordstrom said adjusted EBITDA benefited from higher sales volumes, favorable product mix and operating expense reductions, while several headwinds — including Middle East-related supply chain disruptions, an isolated customer disruption that has since been resolved, and modest foreign exchange and tariff impacts — were largely offsetting.
Management guides for seasonal dip in second quarter
3D Systems ended the quarter with $86.5 million in total cash, including $85.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.4 million in restricted cash. Nordstrom said $3.9 million of debt comes due in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the remaining $92 million maturing in 2030.
For the second quarter, the company guided revenue to a range of $93 million to $95 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2 million to $4 million. Nordstrom said the outlook reflects healthy demand but also customary seasonality and the current macroeconomic environment.
In response to an analyst question, Graves said there were no revenue pull-forwards in the first quarter. He said the company is taking a measured approach to guidance because of global volatility, including logistics issues tied to the Middle East. He also said healthcare seasonality can weigh on the second quarter as some patients defer optional procedures during vacation periods.
Graves said he feels “better than I felt” in two or three years, citing broad improvement across dental, medtech and aerospace and defense. He said the company expects to build on top-line growth momentum while maintaining cost discipline, with a goal of achieving breakeven adjusted EBITDA or better for the full year.
About 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD)
3D Systems, founded in 1986 by stereolithography pioneer Chuck Hull, is a leading provider of additive manufacturing solutions. Headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the company develops and sells a broad range of 3D printers, materials, software, and on-demand manufacturing services. Its core technologies include stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), direct metal printing (DMP), and multi-jet printing (MJP), enabling customers to build prototypes, production parts, and complex geometries across a variety of industries.
The company's hardware portfolio spans desktop to production-scale systems designed for applications in aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer products, and education.
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