In late October, Stratasys hinted at a substandard quarter by releasing preliminary estimations of as much as $190 million in losses. It wasn’t even close: The Eden Prairie-based 3D printer manufacturer said it lost a whopping $938 million, or $18.06 per share for the third quarter.
 
Beyond citing a write down of $910 million in goodwill and other intangible assets, no further reason was given for Stratasys’ miscalculation of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars from a prediction given less than two weeks earlier. When asked for further clarification, Stratasys could not return comment immediately due to a large number of investor calls. Notably, the company's SEC filing indicates it has also lost roughly half of its current assets over the course of 2015, which amounts to a $210 million decrease.
 
In a statement, Stratasys CEO David Reis called the results “a reflection of the difficult global macro-economic environment” in the commercial 3D printer business. The industry has been sluggish after a boom from 2013 to 2014, particularly for manufacturers like Stratasys that have struggled to reach casual consumers with its $6,000 entry-level printers.
 
During the three-month period ending September 30, Stratasys posted revenue of $167.6 million. The company’s revenue totaled $203.6 million during the same period last year, which equates to a nearly 18 percent decrease.
 
The 3D printer manufacturer managed to sell more than 5,400 printers in its third quarter, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for its nearly one billion dollars in net loss. To date, this is Stratasys’ poorest quarterly performance. Last year’s third quarter losses were dramatically less, only $31.3 million, or 62 cents per share.
 
Despite posting about 30 times the year-to-year losses in its third quarter, Reis said he remains confident in Stratasys’ long-term outlook. “We will overcome [our] near-term challenges,” he said in a statement. “We will respond to the current market environment by implementing adjustments to our costs and operating structure…in addition to transforming our brand and go-to-market strategies.”
 
Most recently, Stratasys subsidiary MakerBot cut 20 percent of its staff as part of a restructuring measure. That staff reduction, which occurred in October, was the second 20 percent staff layoff this year at Brooklyn-based manufacturer.
 
In particular, MakerBot, which was purchased in 2013 for $403 million, hasn’t been the darling performer that Stratasys hoped. Last month, MakerBot spokesman Johan Broer told TCB that “3D printing [still] is not accessible enough,” which caused the Stratasys subsidiary to swell and “internally become too fractured.”
 
Much like its parent company, Broer said that MakerBot would be shifting away from the consumer-facing product market and refocus on education, engineering and design fields. He was also adamant that 3D printers would soon reach its coming-of-age, not unlike the household adoption of modern computers three decades ago.
 
However, according to Stratsys’ third quarter release, MakerBot’s revenue had decreased 55 percent from the same time last year.
 
Despite the 3D printing industry being stuck in a jam, Stratasys shares have risen as much as 11 percent from its opening bell price of $26.01. As of mid-day Wednesday, company stock was priced at $28.45.