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Why Is Proto Labs, Inc. (PRLB) Among the Best 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Stocks To Buy Right Now?

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Stocks To Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) stands against the other 3D printing and additive manufacturing stocks.

The additive manufacturing industry is among the most revolutionary areas in the general manufacturing and industrial sectors. These days, 3D printing has become widely used in various fields, such as healthcare equipment manufacturing, metal fabrication, housing construction, and even dental operations. Considering the widespread use of 3D printing technology in various fields across the globe, the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry has come to be considered as a high-growth area in manufacturing, with many investors keeping a close eye on 3D printing stocks and adding them to their portfolios. For instance, Cathie Wood, a reputable growth investor, operates a dedicated Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) that focuses solely on manufacturing technology and 3D printing stocks.

Growing Interest and Engagement in Additive Manufacturing

The impact and growth potential of the additive manufacturing industry is being felt not only in the markets, but on a federal government level as well. In 2022, the Biden Administration launched the Additive Manufacturing Forward initiative to promote the use of additive manufacturing and 3D printing in the US. The initiative was propelled forward by the profitable and attractive uses of 3D printing. For instance, the use of additively-manufactured fuel nozzles for commercial airplane engines by General Electric was cited by the White House as being the reason why its fuel nozzles achieved 30% cost savings while also being 25% lighter and five times more durable than regular fuel nozzles.

It’s not just the government that is taking an interest in 3D printing companies and technologies. Many tech companies have also been launching products in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing space to establish their presence in this area. Microsoft developed and launched a 3D Builder application, and also has its own 3D printers in the market. Autodesk is known for its Autodesk Fusion, a critical tool for preparing 3D models for printing. Finally, HP is known for its Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing technology, among other products in this space.

Some may feel that the additive manufacturing industry is lagging behind other areas in the market. However, a closer look at the performance of individual stocks in this industry highlights the fact that many of them are fiscally performing well, and can be considered as good investments today.

Considering the high-growth potential of 3D printing stocks in today’s market, particularly in light of the growing use of additive manufacturing in various fields, we have compiled a list of the best 3D printing and additive manufacturing stocks to buy now. You can also take a look at the best 3D printing companies in the US and what happened to 3D printing stocks?.

Our Methodology 

We selected the top holdings of Cathie Wood’s 3D Printing ETF and ranked them in ascending order of the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them. For this, we used Insider Monkey’s hedge fund data for the first quarter of 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).

A technician using a 3D printer to produce a metal component for a customer.

Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 18

Based in Maple Plain, Minnesota, Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) is a digital manufacturer of custom parts. It offers 3D printing services and serves developers and engineers who use 3D computer-aided design software. As per the company’s earnings report for the second quarter, its revenue for the first half of 2024 has grown by 2% year-over-year, with non-GAAP EPS growing by 25%.

Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) is a good 3D printing stock to consider buying because of its focus on increasing the number of customers it has and on driving higher revenue per customer through larger orders. Through this strategy, the company is ensuring that it retains customer loyalty and grows its revenues every quarter in the interest of maintaining financial stability.

Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) was spotted in the 13F holdings of 18 hedge funds in the first quarter, with a total stake value of $54.2 million.

Overall PRLB ranks 8th on our list of the best 3D printing and additive stocks to buy. You can visit 10 Best 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Stocks To Buy to see the other 3D printing and additive stocks that are on hedge funds’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of PRLB as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PRLB but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion “Opportunity” for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer is Recommending These 10 Stocks in June.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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AI, Tariffs, Nuclear Power: One Undervalued Stock Connects ALL the Dots (Before It Explodes!)

Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal!

AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous.

Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink.

Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking:

Where will all of that energy come from?

AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse.

Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning:

“The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.”

Elon Musk was even more blunt:

“AI will run out of electricity by next year.”

As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity.

And that’s where the real opportunity lies…

One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike.

As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity.

The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom

  • It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets, positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy.
  • It’s one of the only global companies capable of executing large-scale, complex EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) projects across oil, gas, renewable fuels, and industrial infrastructure.
  • It plays a pivotal role in U.S. LNG exportation—a sector about to explode under President Trump’s renewed “America First” energy doctrine.

Trump has made it clear: Europe and U.S. allies must buy American LNG.

And our company sits in the toll booth—collecting fees on every drop exported.

But that’s not all…

As Trump’s proposed tariffs push American manufacturers to bring their operations back home, this company will be first in line to rebuild, retrofit, and reengineer those facilities.

AI. Energy. Tariffs. Onshoring. This One Company Ties It All Together.

While the world is distracted by flashy AI tickers, a few smart investors are quietly scooping up shares of the one company powering it all from behind the scenes.

AI needs energy. Energy needs infrastructure.

And infrastructure needs a builder with experience, scale, and execution.

This company has its finger in every pie—and Wall Street is just starting to notice.

Wall Street is noticing this company also because it is quietly riding all of these tailwinds—without the sky-high valuation.

While most energy and utility firms are buried under mountains of debt and coughing up hefty interest payments just to appease bondholders…

This company is completely debt-free.

In fact, it’s sitting on a war chest of cash—equal to nearly one-third of its entire market cap.

It also owns a huge equity stake in another red-hot AI play, giving investors indirect exposure to multiple AI growth engines without paying a premium.

And here’s what the smart money has started whispering…

The Hedge Fund Secret That’s Starting to Leak Out

This stock is so off-the-radar, so absurdly undervalued, that some of the most secretive hedge fund managers in the world have begun pitching it at closed-door investment summits.

They’re sharing it quietly, away from the cameras, to rooms full of ultra-wealthy clients.

Why? Because excluding cash and investments, this company is trading at less than 7 times earnings.

And that’s for a business tied to:

  • The AI infrastructure supercycle
  • The onshoring boom driven by Trump-era tariffs
  • A surge in U.S. LNG exports
  • And a unique footprint in nuclear energy—the future of clean, reliable power

You simply won’t find another AI and energy stock this cheap… with this much upside.

This isn’t a hype stock. It’s not riding on hope.

It’s delivering real cash flows, owns critical infrastructure, and holds stakes in other major growth stories.

This is your chance to get in before the rockets take off!

Disruption is the New Name of the Game: Let’s face it, complacency breeds stagnation.

AI is the ultimate disruptor, and it’s shaking the foundations of traditional industries.

The companies that embrace AI will thrive, while the dinosaurs clinging to outdated methods will be left in the dust.

As an investor, you want to be on the side of the winners, and AI is the winning ticket.

The Talent Pool is Overflowing: The world’s brightest minds are flocking to AI.

From computer scientists to mathematicians, the next generation of innovators is pouring its energy into this field.

This influx of talent guarantees a constant stream of groundbreaking ideas and rapid advancements.

By investing in AI, you’re essentially backing the future.

The future is powered by artificial intelligence, and the time to invest is NOW.

Don’t be a spectator in this technological revolution.

Dive into the AI gold rush and watch your portfolio soar alongside the brightest minds of our generation.

This isn’t just about making money – it’s about being part of the future.

So, buckle up and get ready for the ride of your investment life!

Act Now and Unlock a Potential 100+% Return within 12 to 24 months.

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Space is Limited! Only 1000 spots are available for this exclusive offer. Don’t let this chance slip away – subscribe to our Premium Readership Newsletter today and unlock the potential for a life-changing investment.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Head over to our website and subscribe to our Premium Readership Newsletter for just $9.99.

2. Enjoy a month of ad-free browsing, exclusive access to our in-depth report on the Trump tariff and nuclear energy company as well as the revolutionary AI-robotics company, and the upcoming issues of our Premium Readership Newsletter.

3. Sit back, relax, and know that you’re backed by our ironclad 30-day money-back guarantee.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity! Subscribe now and take control of your AI investment future!


No worries about auto-renewals! Our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee applies whether you’re joining us for the first time or renewing your subscription a month later!