3D Systems Corporation

Who invented 3D printing?

Chuck Hull invented stereolithography, the first commercial 3D printing technology, and patented it in 1986. He co-founded 3D Systems the same year and also created the STL file format used across the industry.

Is 3D Systems publicly traded?

Yes. 3D Systems Corporation trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DDD.

What is 3D Systems' revenue?

FY2025 revenue was $386.9 million, down 12.1% from $440.1 million in 2024. The company reported positive net income of $29.9 million, aided by cost reductions and the Geomagic divestiture.

Where is 3D Systems headquartered?

The company is headquartered at 333 Three D Systems Circle in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with production also in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Riom, France.

What is the difference between 3D Systems and Stratasys?

3D Systems invented stereolithography and sells metal and polymer systems plus on-demand manufacturing. Stratasys invented Fused Deposition Modeling and sells only polymer systems. The two are the founding companies of the commercial 3D printing industry and remain its largest independent vendors.

What is 3D Systems' healthcare business?

The Healthcare Solutions segment covers dental 3D printing, surgical planning services, patient-specific implants and instruments, and bioprinting research. Personalized health services grew at double digits in FY2025.

Who is the CEO of 3D Systems?

Dr. Jeffrey Graves has served as president and CEO since 2020, leading the company's divestiture and restructuring program.

Chuck Hull developed stereolithography at a California ultraviolet products company and patented the process in 1986. He co-founded 3D Systems that year in Valencia, California, and shipped the first commercial SLA system, the SLA-1, in 1988. It was the world's first commercially available 3D printer.

The company went public on NASDAQ in the early 1990s and later moved to the NYSE under ticker DDD. Through the 1990s it expanded from stereolithography into selective laser sintering and materials, acquiring competitors and building the industry's first broad product line.

The 2010s brought aggressive expansion and a hard correction. Under CEO Avi Reichental, 3D Systems acquired dozens of companies, entered consumer printing, and saw its stock peak in the 2013 to 2014 3D printing bubble before the consumer market collapsed and large write-downs followed. Dr. Jeffrey Graves became CEO in 2020 and led a multi-year restructuring, selling non-core businesses including the 2025 divestiture of the Geomagic software unit to focus the company on industrial and healthcare applications.

FY2025 showed the results of that program. Revenue of $386.9 million declined 12.1% against a weak capital spending environment and the Geomagic divestiture, but approximately $55 million in annualized cost savings and the divestiture gain produced positive net income of $29.9 million, the company's first profitable year in more than a decade on a GAAP basis.

3D Systems publishes sustainability reporting and frames additive manufacturing as a waste-reducing production technology that enables localized manufacturing and lighter, more efficient parts for aerospace and automotive customers. The company also highlights the use of its systems in producing patient-specific medical devices and surgical models.

The company does not hold independent certifications such as B Corp status. Its sustainability claims are operational rather than certification-based. No major environmental violations or labor controversies are on record.

3D Systems' controversies are financial and corporate rather than product-related.

Investor litigation: The company settled securities class action claims tied to statements made during the 2013 to 2015 bubble period and later accounting and disclosure issues in the consumer-era expansion, episodes that produced the multi-year write-downs investors still associate with the ticker.

Accounting review: In 2021 the company restated results following an internal review of revenue recognition, a governance episode that predated the current management team's restructuring program.

Customer concentration and government contracts: Like other defense-adjacent suppliers, the company works under US government programs subject to audit and procurement rules, a routine regulatory exposure rather than a finding of wrongdoing.