Digital manufacturing service providerProtolabs(PRLB) has recovered from a COVID-hit start to Q1 2022 to achieve 7% revenue growth for the period.
During Q1 2022, Protolabs brought in $124.2 million, $8.1 million more than the $116.1 million it generated in Q1 2021, and a $10.7 million rise on the $113.5 million it reported in the pre-pandemic Q1 2019. On the firm’s earnings call, its CEO Rob Bodor explained how this growth was primarily driven by its 3D Printing and CNC Machining services, which saw “increased [order] volumes from key customers.”
博士说：“我很高兴地报告，我们的结果略有预期。”“当我在第四季度通话中进行沟通时，一月份的需求受到了影响，因为Omicron变体将我们的季节性需求增长延长了几周。我们的需求从2月开始加强，我们在本季度完成了大量完成。”
Protolabs’ Q1 2022 financials
Protolabs reports its revenue in four divisions: Injection Molding, CNC Machining, 3D Printing and Sheet Metal. Over the course of Q1 2022, Injection Molding may have remained the firm’s highest revenue generator, bringing in $53.4 million, but the division’s earnings declined 3.7% on the $56.4 million it attracted in Q1 2021.
Bodor explained on Protolabs’ earnings call that this drop-off was due to the fact it had fulfilled “large COVID-related orders” in Q1 2021, and though he admitted that its Injection Molding division had “underperformed” against expectations, he said it continues to “actively work to increase volume” across related services.
Likewise, the company’s Sheet Metal revenue also fell 9.6% over the same period, declining from $5.2 million to $4.7 million, a figure still 6% short of pre-COVID levels, but after a slow start to 2022, Bodor added that the segment is recovering “nicely.”
On the flipside, the fastest growing area of Protolabs’ business in Q1 2022 was CNC Machining, which brought in $46.1 million, 25.6% more than the $36.7 million it generated in Q1 2021. On the firm’s earnings call, Bodor said the addition of longer lead time CNC services courtesy of its$280 million Hubs acquisition, contributed to this rise. That being said, the segment also grew 18.6% on an organic basis.
Similarly, the company’s 3D Printing arm achieved significant growth of 14.5% in Q1 2022, something Bodor said is being driven by demand for both its metal and polymer offerings, although he did admit that the “plastics side of its business is still larger,” thus suggesting that the latter drove any advances made in this area.
| 收入（$） | Q1 2021 | Q1 2022 | 不同之处 （％） | Q1 2019 (Pre-Covid) | Q1 2022 | 不同之处 （％） |
| Injection Molding | 56.4m | 534m | -3.7 | 55.3m | 534m | -3.4 |
| CNC加工 | 36.7m | 46.1m | + 25.6 | 37.9m | 46.1m | +21.6 |
| 3D打印 | 17.2m | 19.7m | +14.5 | 14.5m | 19.7m | +35.9 |
| 钣金 | 5.2m | 4.7m | -9.6 | 5m | 4.7m | -6 |
| 总收入 | 116.1m | 124.2m | +7 | 113.5m | 124.2m | +9.4 |
针对“整齐”的服务
在过去的一年中，Protolabs投资了大量投资，以多元化其全球合作伙伴的组合，以确保其服务在尽可能多的市场中具有竞争力。这项扩展在第1季度的2022年获得了奖励，该公司为23,492个独特的产品开发人员提供服务，比第1季度2021年的设施高3.9％，该统计数据反映了其“质量超出数量”方法来选择满足客户需求的合作伙伴。
“Our strategy is not necessarily to have the biggest network, but rather have a very well-groomed premium network of manufacturers that are highly-qualified, and we can send material business to,” explained Bodor. “We believe that this helps us to ensure very high quality and high reliability, and because we understand our network partners well, we can really tailor the jobs that we send them.”
During Q1 2022, this strategy proved particularly effective in attracting industrial and commercial machinery customers, as well as those operating in aerospace, with business from each of these client bases growing year-over-year.
在区域上，这种增长在欧洲最为普遍，该公司在同一时期产生了2140万美元，在同一时期增长了14.6％。According to Bodor, Protolabs managed to achieve this despite Russia’s war on Ukraine, due to the fact that none of its customers or suppliers are based in either country, and while its Japanese and US divisions also grew, this was by 12.7% and 4.9% respectively.
在困难的气候下预测增长
随着Protolabs进入第二季度2022年，Bodor表示，它的后勤和原材料成本充气，但不再遇到今年早些时候的短缺。该公司还在不断地致力于抵消市场引起的支出的增加方法，考虑到这一点，它仍然有信心在下一个季度产生1.23亿美元至1.31亿美元的收入，占增长7％。
Although the introduction of Protolabs 2.0 delayed the company’s full integration of Hubs in 2021, it expects to launch its combined CNC Machining offering later this year, and Bodor wrapped up Protolabs’ earnings call by anticipating that joining with Hubs ‘profitably’ will enable it to “reinforce its sustainable, long-term competitive market advantage.”
“As we look on the horizon, we are on the precipice of revolutionizing manufacturing for a second time with a broader offering, and unified digital experience, which combines our digital thread with our digital network,” concluded Bodor. “As an ever-increasing group of companies adopt manufacturing 4.0, Protolabs will continue to lead the way.”
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Featured image shows Protolabs’ 3D printing facility in Morrisville, North Carolina. Photo via Protolabs.
