NYSE:PRLB Proto Labs Q2 2023 Earnings Report $35.02 +1.21 (+3.56%) As of 03:53 PM Eastern This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Proto Labs EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.33Consensus EPS $0.30Beat/MissBeat by +$0.03One Year Ago EPS$0.09Proto Labs Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$122.30 millionExpected Revenue$123.88 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$1.58 millionYoY Revenue Growth-3.60%Proto Labs Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2023Date8/4/2023TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateFriday, August 4, 2023Conference Call Time8:30AM ETUpcoming EarningsProto Labs' Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 8:30 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Q1 2025 Earnings ReportConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Proto Labs Q2 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrAugust 4, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:01Greetings, and welcome to the Proto Labs Q2 Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Operator00:00:30Jason Frankman, VP and Corporate Controller. Thank you, Mr. Franklin. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:38Thank you, Camilla, and welcome everyone to Proto Labs' 2nd quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Rob Bedor, Proto Labs' President and Chief Executive Officer and Dan Schumacher, Chief Financial Officer. This morning, Proto Labs issued a press release announcing its financial results the Q2 ended June 30, 2023. The release is available on the company's website. In addition, Our prepared slide presentation is available online at the web address provided in our press release. Speaker 100:01:10Our discussion today will subject to many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Please refer to our earnings press release and recent filings, including our annual report on Form 10 ks for information on certain risks that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially and adversely from any forward looking statements made today. The results and guidance we will discuss include non GAAP financial measures consistent with our past practice. Please refer to our press release and the accompanying slide presentation at the Investor Relations section of our company website for a complete reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP results. Now I will turn the call over to Rob Bedore. Speaker 100:02:01Rob? Speaker 200:02:02Thanks, Jason. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our Q2 earnings call. This morning, we reported revenue and earnings within our guidance ranges. While economic conditions are challenging amplified by the continued contraction of global manufacturing, our uniquely broad customer offering fulfilled through the combination of our internal digital factories and network manufacturing partners allow us Our lower priced longer lead time offers to the factory and network see particularly high demand in the current softer economic conditions. Our quick turn offers tend to be in highest demand in strong growth economies alongside continued demand for longer lead time offers to meet our customers' production needs. Speaker 200:02:54As we discussed in the prior quarter, we are operating in a challenging and uncertain manufacturing environment with both Driven by the macro climate, demand for longer lead time, lower priced offerings has continued to outpace demand for our quick turn offerings. Notably, our network revenue grew 80% year over year in the quarter. The network offer has significantly expanded our addressable market It continues to gain traction with customers and share in the market. While our quick turn offers Saw continued slower demand in the quarter. We anticipated this overall demand mix and despite this headwind improved our consolidated gross and operating margins We also continue to generate positive cash flows that are best in class in our sector. Speaker 200:03:58As global manufacturing conditions improve, we expect growth in both network and factory office. In order to continue to drive growth and maintain or improve our profitability in this challenging environment, we are focusing on items we control. 1st, We will continue to drive growth in our longer lead time lower priced offerings through both the Hub's network and the factory. Network revenue again surpassed our expectations in the quarter And in the first half of twenty twenty three grew 75% over the first half of twenty twenty two. Our network offer continues to thrive as customers gravitate toward Next, we continue to invest to innovate and expand our customer offer through research and development initiatives. Speaker 200:04:49Our industry leading profitability and cost of cash flow generation enable us to invest for future growth. Most recently, we launched accelerated anodizing and chromate plating in our digital factory CNC machining service. This is a very commonly requested secondary offer for machine parts. Our new offer combines Proto Labs' unmatched speed at scale with traditional finishing processes, a first for the industry. A Proto Labs customer can now have fully anodized or plated CNC machine parts on their desk within a few days of placing an order. Speaker 200:05:23Previously, we only offered finishing through the network. But as part of building out the most comprehensive custom CMC offer, We now offer finishing through the factory at lead times that no other manufacturer can match. Costs while maintaining the world's fastest lead times. At the end of the second quarter, our factory manufacturing headcount was down 9% year over year, commensurate with our volumes. We will continue to align staffing levels with volumes in our manufacturing facilities while continuing to invest in growth, including our high growth network offer. Speaker 200:06:06As economic conditions and manufacturing demand recover, we anticipate our factory performance will improve As customer preferences and needs shift and more customers take advantage of our world class lead times, consistent car quality and high on time reliability. In addition, as the factory longer lead time business becomes material to our overall factory offer, it will provide an offset to any pressure to the Quick Turn business. We also expect strong network growth to continue in any macro climate driven by its wide range of capabilities and lead time options. The combination of factory and network is what allows Proto Labs to serve all customer use cases in any economic climate. Because we acquired hubs in 2021 and now offer the combination of both fulfillment avenues, our current business performance is stronger than if we had only Provided quick turn offers to customers. Speaker 200:07:01The network offer continues to gain traction with customers with the expanded envelope capabilities and broader range of lead time and pricing The number of customers utilizing both factory and network services continues to grow well. We are realizing the value of the Hubs acquisition our expanded customer offer and we are still in the early stages of capturing the total opportunity in the market that our strategy unlocks. Proto Labs has the broadest fulfillment capabilities in our industry, allowing us to serve our customers and grow profitably in any economic conditions. Now for a quick update on our 2023 priorities halfway through the year. As a reminder, our priorities are: 1st, To drive revenue growth, particularly in our largest services, injection molding and CNC machine. Speaker 200:07:50And second, to increase shareholder value through expanding profitability in the factory and the network. One investment we are making in revenue growth is an investment in sales leadership talent. We recently hired a new Vice President of Sales to lead the Americas and also strengthened our sales management in Europe. Injection molding revenue in the 2nd quarter was down sequentially. As we have discussed in prior calls, injection molding is highly impacted by macro conditions due to its higher proportion of production use cases. Speaker 200:08:24We continue to pursue various go to market strategies and other service line improvements to drive growth. We have seen solid performance in injection molding orders fulfilled through the combination of our internal factories and manufacturing partners. We are winning more orders that leverage our combined factory and network injection molding offer as evidenced by a recent project we completed for an automotive lighting solutions provider. Working with one supplier was important for this automotive customer. This customer came to Proto Labs in search of a custom manufacturing partner that Supportive program from prototyping to production. Speaker 200:08:59The customer benefited from the speed of our digital factory service to rapidly prototype their designs and then moved into production with our network, evidence of Proto Labs serving multiple use cases across the product lifecycle for our customers. The customer required large and complex injection molding parts which are outside of our digital factory capabilities and in the past we would not have won this program. But because of our digital network offers expanded injection molding capabilities, Fertilabs won the business and we manufactured all molds and parts for this customer through both fulfillment avenues. The combined factory and network offer unlocks significant value for this customer, allowing them to get production quickly with validated and tested designs all from a single manufacturer. Our next priority growth area, CNC Machining, is performing well with growth in the Q2 largely driven by our network offer. Speaker 200:09:53We continue to innovate on our digital factory capabilities and expand offer, most recently launching accelerated anodizing in place. Proto Labs offers unmatched breadth in CNC machining and as We have tangible evidence that customers value 1 single partner for their custom CNC part needs. One specific customer, Airbus, recently turned to Proto Labs for help with a new transportation project in development. Airbus needed a manufacturing partner that can move very quickly from prototyping to production and the Proto Labs combined offer made us the perfect candidate. We delivered quick turn prototype parts through the factory and Airbus then transitioned to our digital network to manufacture higher production volumes. Speaker 200:10:45Our factory and network combination eliminated the need for Airbus to request multiple quotes from multiple manufacturers, simplifying and accelerating their supply chain. Another example of the power of Proto Labs combined factory and network. The next priority for 2023 is to increase shareholder value through expanding profitability in the factory and in the network, we surpassed our expectations for earnings in the Q2. We achieved this despite the shift in the mix of our business toward longer lead time, lower priced offerings and the accompanying pressure on margins. We accomplished this through improved automation and productivity that enabled us to reduce overall headcount, reduce overtime and reduced reliance on contract labor. Speaker 200:11:31Given customer preferences for lower priced offerings in this economic cycle, we Our focus on operating efficiencies and our customers secured us 2 pieces of external recognition in the quarter, highlighting our leadership in digital manufacturing. First, Proto Labs was awarded Company of the Year for digital manufacturing by Frost and Sullivan, who commended our visionary innovation, performance and customer impact. In addition, The MLC highlighted our combined factory and network offering. We will continue to focus on serving our customers with the most comprehensive digital manufacturing offer in the world And receiving external awards like this is a strong endorsement of our continued industry leadership. In summary, we have little control over macro conditions and end market demand, but these short term challenges should not cloud the advantages of our business market. Speaker 200:12:43The combination of our factory and network offers has allowed us to perform better than peers in the current environment and we believe it will allow us to outgrow the market longer term, particularly as our factory offer becomes less reliant on the quick term business that is sensitive to economic conditions. Let me once Again, highlight that our network offer continues to take market share with 80% growth in the quarter. We are well positioned to weather economic volatility due to Proto Labs best in class And this also enables us to continue to invest in innovation to expand our customer offer and expand additional share of wallet. Through any economic climate, we are a great long term strategic partner for our customers and believe we will deliver value for shareholders over the long term. I'd like to thank every Proto Labs employee for their contributions in the first half of twenty twenty three. Speaker 200:13:36Although we are operating in a difficult environment, The efforts and commitment of our employees enable us to continue to perform and grow profitably. Dan will now cover our Q2 financials in-depth and provide our outlook for the Q3 of 2023. Dan? Speaker 300:13:52Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Our financial results begin on Page 9 of the slide presentation. 2nd quarter revenue of $122,300,000 was in our guidance range and down 1% year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan. Hubs had another record quarter, generating $200,000 of revenue in the 2nd quarter, representing year over year growth of 79.7% in constant currencies. Our hubs network offer continues to resonate with customers driven by its broad range of capabilities and lead time options. Speaker 300:14:26Changes in foreign currencies represented a $500,000 unfavorable impact to revenue in the 2nd quarter, in line with our expectations. 2nd quarter revenue by region is summarized on Slide 13. In the Americas, our largest region, In Europe, 2nd quarter revenue grew 13.1% year over year in constant currencies, driven by strong network offer growth. Transitioning to revenue by service. 2nd quarter injection molding revenue declined approximately 6% Year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan, we saw weaker demand for our factory offers sequentially, especially in our medical, computer electronics and manufacturing end markets. Speaker 300:15:17Europe saw a larger sequential decline than the Americas. CNC Machining revenue grew 3.5% year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan, driven by very strong network growth. 2nd quarter 3 d printing revenue grew 6% year over year in constant currencies, driven by growth in the network and in all geographies, both in the factory and the network. Sheet metal revenue declined 24% year over year in constant currencies in the quarter. As a reminder, we furloughed 25 percent of our sheet metal workforce in the 2nd quarter in an effort to align cost levels with current demand. Speaker 300:15:58We served 23,377 unique product developers in the 2nd quarter, a decrease of 2.8% year over year. Turning to Slide 17 and our detailed income statement. Overall, 2nd quarter non GAAP gross margin increased 70 basis points sequentially to 44.1 percent. Consolidated margin expansion was driven by a higher network business gross margin slightly offset by the impact of the mix shift to lower margin offers. Even with the lower volume, we are able to maintain similar factory gross margins quarter over quarter due to cost reduction initiatives. Speaker 300:16:38Network gross margin in the 2nd quarter increased 31.2 percent from 22.2 percent in the Q1 of 2023. Our long term target for network gross margin is still between 25% 30%. In the second quarter, we benefited from improvements to our sourcing algorithm and pricing efficiencies. Total non GAAP operating expenses were $43,100,000 in the quarter or 35.2 percent of revenue compared to 45,500,000 36.2 percent of revenue in the Q1 of 2023. We gained operating efficiencies sequentially due to focused efforts to control costs as well as lower incentive compensation. Speaker 300:17:22As we continue to work through the exit of our Japan operations, We incurred non operating expenses of $4,000,000 in the 2nd quarter, primarily due to the release of a $3,900,000 of Moving to taxes. Our non GAAP effective tax rate in the 2nd quarter was 25.2% compared to 23.2% in the Q1. The sequential increase in the non GAAP effective tax rate was primarily due to a Slightly lower R and D credit in the quarter. 2nd quarter non GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.33 compared to $0.30 in the Q1 of 2023. The sequential earnings per share improvement was driven primarily by network growth and gross margin expansion as well as operating expense efficiencies. Speaker 300:18:26These sequential improvements were partially offset by the continued mix shift towards longer lead times lower priced offerings. Turning to cash flow and balance sheet highlights on Slide 18. We generated $9,300,000 of cash from operations in the quarter. Our business exhibits very strong cash flow generation, enabling us to weather challenging economic climates better than peers and continue to invest in future growth. We repurchased 8,900,000 of common shares during the Q2. Speaker 300:19:00We will continue to purchase opportunistically going forward. Our balance sheet is still very strong. On June 30, 2023, we had $102,800,000 of cash and investments on our balance sheet And 0 debt. Turning to Q3 guidance as outlined on Slide 20. We expect to generate revenue between $118,000,000 $126,000,000 in the 3rd quarter. Speaker 300:19:27At the midpoint, this implies flat revenue year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan. The closure of our Japan operations is expected to have a $1,300,000 negative year over year impact on our revenue growth. We expect foreign currency to have between $1,500,000 $2,000,000 favorable impact on revenue compared to the Q3 of 2022. Moving to earnings guidance. We anticipate non GAAP add backs in the Q3 to include stock based compensation expense of approximately $4,600,000 and amortization expense of $1,500,000 We currently estimate our 3rd quarter non GAAP effective tax rate will be 24% plus or minus 50 basis points. Speaker 300:20:17Considering this, we expect 3rd quarter non GAAP earnings per share between $0.26 $0.34 Now back to Rob for closing comments. Speaker 200:20:29Thanks, Dan. Total Labs is the most profitable and cash flow positive digital manufacturing company, allowing us to withstand challenging environments while investing in the future. Our best in class unique combined offer is gaining significant traction in the market. In the second half of the year, we will continue to improve on the things we can control and make progress on our focused 2023 priorities, which will enable long term profitable growth and shareholder value creation. Thank you for your time today. Speaker 200:21:00That concludes our prepared remarks. Dan and I will now take Operator00:21:08Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Thank you. And our first question comes from the line of Jim Ricchiuti with Needham and Company. Please proceed with your Speaker 400:21:49Thank you. Good morning. First question is On the quarter, the current quarter, yes, seasonally Q3 weaker just due to the summer months, obviously. But I'm wondering If you have any kind of read through in either the U. S. Speaker 400:22:09Or Europe, they just may Inform you of just any changes in demand trends as you exited Q2? Speaker 300:22:22Yes. What I would tell you, Jim, is what we found as we've gone through COVID And post COVID in terms of the supply chain disruption that abnormal seasonality ends up being normal seasonality. It's hard to predict in this environment kind of seasonally how things are coming in. This comes from a couple of factors, right? We've seen in past periods around COVID where normal months in which people were taking a lot of vacation, They ended up not, and you ended up seeing some different type of seasonality pattern than you normally did. Speaker 300:23:04We set the guide as we normally do. We looked at what our current demand was In July, and we looked at what our upload rates are and so forth and then did our best to project out from there What the guidance is? I don't have any better information than that, Jim. Speaker 400:23:24No, fair enough. You guys showed some nice improvement In the network gross margins in the current quarter, I'm just wondering how we Should be looking at that just relative to the goal you have out there and maybe more broadly just in general how you're thinking about gross margins In the current quarter? Speaker 200:23:46Yes. Thanks, Jim, for recognizing that. We're quite happy with that improvement in our network gross margins. And it comes from improvements that we made. We have a machine learning based pricing algorithm and we've continued to Test and validate different pricing paradigms within that, and we've seen some nice improvement, which we're happy with. Speaker 200:24:12And then also, We improved kind of how we're sourcing our opportunities to our manufacturing partners to make sure that we're really providing Then with the best fit and that's also helping us expand our margins there. You asked about the target. We communicated a target of 25% to 30% gross margin for the network. And we're still holding to that at this point because we want to continue to Test and learn as we continue to go forward, but yes, very pleased with the performance in the quarter. Speaker 400:24:49And just broadly on gross margins in this current environment across the services, are you seeing any Pricing pressure or things like that, that we need to at least consider for the current quarter gross margins. Speaker 300:25:09Yes. I think we expect things to be fairly consistent going into the next quarter. For sure, there is probably more pressure within the factory business on volume, but we've been successful And managing our variable cost as it relates to the plants, our overall headcount in our plants is down 9%. So we're adjusting as we go and as we see how this economy plays out. Speaker 400:25:44Got it. Thanks very much. Speaker 200:25:46Thank you. Operator00:25:50Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Brian Drab with William Blair. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:26:01Good morning, Dan. Good morning, Rob. This is Blake on for Brian. Just wanted to quickly ask, What drove the decline in product developers? I know it was just a slight decline, but was it any was it broad based across all your markets? Speaker 500:26:14Or was it anything specific? Any additional color there would be great. Speaker 300:26:18Yes. It was in general consistent with revenue, but I would say one caveat to that. Part of our growth in our network business is not just the growth in customers, which is very, very healthy. But our sales team within our hubs business is very focused on larger and larger projects. And you can see from the 80% growth rate, they're very successful at that. Speaker 300:26:48And so that's the only difference, I think, in terms of when you look at Product developer decline versus our decline in revenue in constant currencies excluding Japan. Speaker 500:27:03Got it. And then you guys mentioned as longer lead time offerings grow, it should help offset any slowness and quick turn As that longer lead time gets to the size of the quick turn business in the factory, how close are you guys to that milestone? I feel like that was an important comment. Speaker 200:27:22Yes. So we've expanded our as we talk about our comprehensive offering, we've expanded our lead time options both by offering the network options, which tend to longer lead times and also by introducing longer lead time options Debt has fulfilled through the factory, right? We've done that in our CNC business and our 3 d printing business And injection molding as well. And in CMC, we at one point, we talked about it as flexible lead times. That That's kind of the name we talked about when we launched it. Speaker 200:27:57So those are in place and they're continuing to gain traction. Speaker 500:28:03Understood. And then just lastly for me on your capital allocation strategy, I know you guys mentioned you keep purchasing shares. But how does your M and A pipeline look? Have you seen anything there where you could add on to either hubs or your impactory offerings? Yes. Speaker 500:28:22What I would say Speaker 300:28:23is we're 1st primarily focused on the acquisition of Hubs and making it successful. You can kind of see that in the results of Hubs. We've been very focused on cross selling and on improving the e Experience that integrates both the factory and the network, that is our primary focus right now. Speaker 500:28:49Understood. I'll pass it along. Thank you. Speaker 200:28:52Thank you. Operator00:28:56Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig Hallum Capital Group. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:29:04Hey, thanks. Good morning, Tom. Thanks for taking the questions. I wanted to start with a question just about the demand environment, but maybe I'm going to ask a little bit different way, I'm just kind of curious if you're seeing any change in customer behavior, whether it's customers ordering More parts or whether they're doing more expedited, any change in behavior that gives you some indication Any underlying change in the macro? Are you seeing any of that? Speaker 600:29:34Or is it pretty steady relative to what you've been kind of seeing year to date? Speaker 200:29:40I think year to date there hasn't been that much change quarter on quarter, but I would say overall we're And then we talked about this a little bit in the script, right, that we're seeing customers have a tendency to be less in a hurry. And so utilizing our longer lead time options more. Speaker 300:30:02I think the other thing, Greg, that we saw, maybe this Specifically for our factory business in Europe, as we did see larger projects that we talked about in the Q1 earnings call. We were not seeing as many of those in the second quarter. And on some of those larger projects, We're having customers upload that are being indecisive and longer in terms of making decisions on those. And I think we called it out a bit, Greg, in my commentary on injection molding. I think we're seeing Particular softness in Medical and Consumer Electronics. Speaker 600:30:43Okay. That's helpful. On gross margin, just a follow-up. Was there anything sort of non recurring or one time? I know we've We've been talking about 25% to 30 percent hubs. Speaker 600:30:56You were a little bit below that in Q1, but yet really nicely outperformed in Q2. So, but I think you reiterated, you still expect 25% to 30%. So just kind of curious whether there was Anything unusual that drove the upside specifically in the quarter? Speaker 300:31:13So two things. We talked About this, Greg, I don't remember us talking about this maybe last year and the year prior. For the hubs business in terms of where the NPs are sourced, Chinese New Year does have an impact in Q1 and ends up being pressure on our margin. I would say Q1 was well kind of below the average, right? So as part of the pickup was there. Speaker 300:31:41I would say the second thing is we did make changes to our model That were quite successful. And some of those changes are on the demand sourcing side and some of those changes are Optimizing the pricing for different types of geometries and materials. So we did implement changes we had been working on In the quarter as well. Those were the 2 primary drivers. Speaker 600:32:11And just to be clear, those were not just 1 quarter type changes. That's Something that will affect the go forward? Speaker 300:32:18Correct. Speaker 600:32:20And so if that's the case Speaker 300:32:22But we will see how successful those things are. I'm not letting 3 months kind of dictate where that's going to be, Greg, Before adjusting the longer term model of the 25% to 30%. Speaker 600:32:36Yes. Okay. No, that's fair. And then just I guess my last question, Operating expenses took another sort of tick down in Q2, so you're clearly managing costs pretty well. What's the expectation going forward? Speaker 600:32:52Is this kind of a good sort of level, good run rate? Or are you going to continue to sort of manage that pretty tightly? Speaker 300:32:59I think as you can see from our guide, we're expecting to be flattish at the midpoint quarter over quarter. So we would hold where they are now, but this is a dynamic environment. So Depending on if the revenue goes up or down, we're going to need to be flexible, right, and continue to Find ways to be more efficient. Speaker 600:33:26Got it. Okay. I will leave it there. Thanks. Operator00:33:32Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Ben Rose with Battle Road Research. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 700:33:40Thank you and good morning. In the customer examples that you've cited, It does seem like there's a growing number of customers that are taking advantage of both the factory and the network services. Can you comment either quantitatively or qualitatively the percent of either customers or developers that are at this point Drawing upon both services. Speaker 200:34:08Yes, I think yes, certainly. Good morning, Ben. Thank you. I think as you look at the growth that we've had in the network, 70% last quarter, 80 Percent in the Q1, 80% in the Q2. You can see that I think we've been quite successful with our sales team Ian, exposing our broader offerings and both the combination of the network and the factory to our customers And driving them to those solutions as well as the ones that they're finding on their own through using our website. Speaker 200:34:44And so we're definitely seeing a nice Healthy uptick in customers who are using us in this much more holistic way And have been quite satisfied with that. Speaker 700:34:59Okay. And How critical is it for some of these larger customers that some of the network partners, particularly As it pertains to volume production that these partners are located outside the U. S? Speaker 200:35:18So that varies depending upon the customer and what their needs are. And we've got network partners that are In region, both in the U. S. And in Europe, and then we've got them globally as well. And so we make the match Speaker 700:35:44Question on sourcing of materials. I'm wondering if Some of the improvement, for example, in Hubs gross margin might be traceable to your ability to obtain Lower priced commodities in this market is prices have adjusted post COVID. Speaker 300:36:11Yes. You had mentioned hubs. And just as a reminder, Ben, in the network business, we're not procuring the material for the MPs. The entities are procuring them that material. In terms of We're kind of outside the we feel we're outside of the supply chain constraint, right? Speaker 300:36:34We're able to Procure materials now and that's not an issue with in terms of our on time delivery Or gross margins, no. Speaker 700:36:47Okay. I guess what I really meant to say excuse me, meant to ask in terms of the price That the manufacturing partner is accepting at this point, is that do you think that they're more Likely to accept a quote from you when knowing that commodity prices have stabilized. Speaker 200:37:14Yes. I think that in general we've seen the worst of the supply chain price impacts Normalized, so that's benefited us. As Dan said, it also benefits our manufacturing partners And that factors into the prices that they require in order to take the business. Speaker 700:37:38Okay. And then finally in terms of end markets, I know you mentioned some softness in medical and consumer electronics. The first question is looking out over the next few months, do you think that that Business has the ability to come back? And then also can you comment a little bit on What's happening in terms of EV prototyping and potentially low volume production there? Speaker 300:38:13Yes. In terms of the softness we're seeing in Medical and Consumer Electronics, I think part of what we're seeing is we're seeing people upload And then us having talked with the customers and then pushing off in terms of projects. We think the volume we believe the volume is there, right, to be had once we are past whatever economic cycle we're in. Just a reminder, I mean, in injection molding, we offer a service nobody else can, right, in terms of the speed that we can get injection mold parts to her. So, yes, we believe in the second half, if we see improvement from a macro perspective that, yes, that demand will pick up. Speaker 300:38:59Rob, you want to take the EV question? Speaker 200:39:01Yes, absolutely. So yes, thank you for that. Automotive, first of all, was strong for us in the quarter. And Electric vehicles is definitely a very strong sub segment for us within automotive. In fact, generally, Within industries, the subsectors that do best for us are those that are new and where there's a lot of innovation going on. Speaker 200:39:23And certainly, EV is At the very forefront of that for automotive and so that's absolutely a strong business for us. Speaker 700:39:32Okay. Thanks a lot. Speaker 200:39:34Thank you. Operator00:39:38Thank you. We have reached the end of our question and answer session. And with that, This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallProto Labs Q2 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Proto Labs Earnings HeadlinesStockNews.com Downgrades Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) to BuyApril 24 at 2:17 AM | americanbankingnews.comProto Labs Insider Ups Holding By 11% During YearApril 23 at 12:11 PM | finance.yahoo.comTrump to redistribute trillions of dollars Trump’s Final Reset Inside the shocking plot to re-engineer America’s financial system…and why you need to move your money now.April 24, 2025 | Porter & Company (Ad)Proto Labs: Good Intentions, But Still StagnantApril 12, 2025 | seekingalpha.comProto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) investors are sitting on a loss of 46% if they invested five years agoMarch 28, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comIs Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) the Best 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Stock to Buy?March 23, 2025 | insidermonkey.comSee More Proto Labs Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Proto Labs? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Proto Labs and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Proto LabsProto Labs (NYSE:PRLB), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital manufacturer of custom parts in the United States and Europe. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional printing; and sheet metal fabrication products. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end-markets. 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There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:01Greetings, and welcome to the Proto Labs Q2 Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Operator00:00:30Jason Frankman, VP and Corporate Controller. Thank you, Mr. Franklin. You may begin. Speaker 100:00:38Thank you, Camilla, and welcome everyone to Proto Labs' 2nd quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Rob Bedor, Proto Labs' President and Chief Executive Officer and Dan Schumacher, Chief Financial Officer. This morning, Proto Labs issued a press release announcing its financial results the Q2 ended June 30, 2023. The release is available on the company's website. In addition, Our prepared slide presentation is available online at the web address provided in our press release. Speaker 100:01:10Our discussion today will subject to many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Please refer to our earnings press release and recent filings, including our annual report on Form 10 ks for information on certain risks that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially and adversely from any forward looking statements made today. The results and guidance we will discuss include non GAAP financial measures consistent with our past practice. Please refer to our press release and the accompanying slide presentation at the Investor Relations section of our company website for a complete reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP results. Now I will turn the call over to Rob Bedore. Speaker 100:02:01Rob? Speaker 200:02:02Thanks, Jason. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our Q2 earnings call. This morning, we reported revenue and earnings within our guidance ranges. While economic conditions are challenging amplified by the continued contraction of global manufacturing, our uniquely broad customer offering fulfilled through the combination of our internal digital factories and network manufacturing partners allow us Our lower priced longer lead time offers to the factory and network see particularly high demand in the current softer economic conditions. Our quick turn offers tend to be in highest demand in strong growth economies alongside continued demand for longer lead time offers to meet our customers' production needs. Speaker 200:02:54As we discussed in the prior quarter, we are operating in a challenging and uncertain manufacturing environment with both Driven by the macro climate, demand for longer lead time, lower priced offerings has continued to outpace demand for our quick turn offerings. Notably, our network revenue grew 80% year over year in the quarter. The network offer has significantly expanded our addressable market It continues to gain traction with customers and share in the market. While our quick turn offers Saw continued slower demand in the quarter. We anticipated this overall demand mix and despite this headwind improved our consolidated gross and operating margins We also continue to generate positive cash flows that are best in class in our sector. Speaker 200:03:58As global manufacturing conditions improve, we expect growth in both network and factory office. In order to continue to drive growth and maintain or improve our profitability in this challenging environment, we are focusing on items we control. 1st, We will continue to drive growth in our longer lead time lower priced offerings through both the Hub's network and the factory. Network revenue again surpassed our expectations in the quarter And in the first half of twenty twenty three grew 75% over the first half of twenty twenty two. Our network offer continues to thrive as customers gravitate toward Next, we continue to invest to innovate and expand our customer offer through research and development initiatives. Speaker 200:04:49Our industry leading profitability and cost of cash flow generation enable us to invest for future growth. Most recently, we launched accelerated anodizing and chromate plating in our digital factory CNC machining service. This is a very commonly requested secondary offer for machine parts. Our new offer combines Proto Labs' unmatched speed at scale with traditional finishing processes, a first for the industry. A Proto Labs customer can now have fully anodized or plated CNC machine parts on their desk within a few days of placing an order. Speaker 200:05:23Previously, we only offered finishing through the network. But as part of building out the most comprehensive custom CMC offer, We now offer finishing through the factory at lead times that no other manufacturer can match. Costs while maintaining the world's fastest lead times. At the end of the second quarter, our factory manufacturing headcount was down 9% year over year, commensurate with our volumes. We will continue to align staffing levels with volumes in our manufacturing facilities while continuing to invest in growth, including our high growth network offer. Speaker 200:06:06As economic conditions and manufacturing demand recover, we anticipate our factory performance will improve As customer preferences and needs shift and more customers take advantage of our world class lead times, consistent car quality and high on time reliability. In addition, as the factory longer lead time business becomes material to our overall factory offer, it will provide an offset to any pressure to the Quick Turn business. We also expect strong network growth to continue in any macro climate driven by its wide range of capabilities and lead time options. The combination of factory and network is what allows Proto Labs to serve all customer use cases in any economic climate. Because we acquired hubs in 2021 and now offer the combination of both fulfillment avenues, our current business performance is stronger than if we had only Provided quick turn offers to customers. Speaker 200:07:01The network offer continues to gain traction with customers with the expanded envelope capabilities and broader range of lead time and pricing The number of customers utilizing both factory and network services continues to grow well. We are realizing the value of the Hubs acquisition our expanded customer offer and we are still in the early stages of capturing the total opportunity in the market that our strategy unlocks. Proto Labs has the broadest fulfillment capabilities in our industry, allowing us to serve our customers and grow profitably in any economic conditions. Now for a quick update on our 2023 priorities halfway through the year. As a reminder, our priorities are: 1st, To drive revenue growth, particularly in our largest services, injection molding and CNC machine. Speaker 200:07:50And second, to increase shareholder value through expanding profitability in the factory and the network. One investment we are making in revenue growth is an investment in sales leadership talent. We recently hired a new Vice President of Sales to lead the Americas and also strengthened our sales management in Europe. Injection molding revenue in the 2nd quarter was down sequentially. As we have discussed in prior calls, injection molding is highly impacted by macro conditions due to its higher proportion of production use cases. Speaker 200:08:24We continue to pursue various go to market strategies and other service line improvements to drive growth. We have seen solid performance in injection molding orders fulfilled through the combination of our internal factories and manufacturing partners. We are winning more orders that leverage our combined factory and network injection molding offer as evidenced by a recent project we completed for an automotive lighting solutions provider. Working with one supplier was important for this automotive customer. This customer came to Proto Labs in search of a custom manufacturing partner that Supportive program from prototyping to production. Speaker 200:08:59The customer benefited from the speed of our digital factory service to rapidly prototype their designs and then moved into production with our network, evidence of Proto Labs serving multiple use cases across the product lifecycle for our customers. The customer required large and complex injection molding parts which are outside of our digital factory capabilities and in the past we would not have won this program. But because of our digital network offers expanded injection molding capabilities, Fertilabs won the business and we manufactured all molds and parts for this customer through both fulfillment avenues. The combined factory and network offer unlocks significant value for this customer, allowing them to get production quickly with validated and tested designs all from a single manufacturer. Our next priority growth area, CNC Machining, is performing well with growth in the Q2 largely driven by our network offer. Speaker 200:09:53We continue to innovate on our digital factory capabilities and expand offer, most recently launching accelerated anodizing in place. Proto Labs offers unmatched breadth in CNC machining and as We have tangible evidence that customers value 1 single partner for their custom CNC part needs. One specific customer, Airbus, recently turned to Proto Labs for help with a new transportation project in development. Airbus needed a manufacturing partner that can move very quickly from prototyping to production and the Proto Labs combined offer made us the perfect candidate. We delivered quick turn prototype parts through the factory and Airbus then transitioned to our digital network to manufacture higher production volumes. Speaker 200:10:45Our factory and network combination eliminated the need for Airbus to request multiple quotes from multiple manufacturers, simplifying and accelerating their supply chain. Another example of the power of Proto Labs combined factory and network. The next priority for 2023 is to increase shareholder value through expanding profitability in the factory and in the network, we surpassed our expectations for earnings in the Q2. We achieved this despite the shift in the mix of our business toward longer lead time, lower priced offerings and the accompanying pressure on margins. We accomplished this through improved automation and productivity that enabled us to reduce overall headcount, reduce overtime and reduced reliance on contract labor. Speaker 200:11:31Given customer preferences for lower priced offerings in this economic cycle, we Our focus on operating efficiencies and our customers secured us 2 pieces of external recognition in the quarter, highlighting our leadership in digital manufacturing. First, Proto Labs was awarded Company of the Year for digital manufacturing by Frost and Sullivan, who commended our visionary innovation, performance and customer impact. In addition, The MLC highlighted our combined factory and network offering. We will continue to focus on serving our customers with the most comprehensive digital manufacturing offer in the world And receiving external awards like this is a strong endorsement of our continued industry leadership. In summary, we have little control over macro conditions and end market demand, but these short term challenges should not cloud the advantages of our business market. Speaker 200:12:43The combination of our factory and network offers has allowed us to perform better than peers in the current environment and we believe it will allow us to outgrow the market longer term, particularly as our factory offer becomes less reliant on the quick term business that is sensitive to economic conditions. Let me once Again, highlight that our network offer continues to take market share with 80% growth in the quarter. We are well positioned to weather economic volatility due to Proto Labs best in class And this also enables us to continue to invest in innovation to expand our customer offer and expand additional share of wallet. Through any economic climate, we are a great long term strategic partner for our customers and believe we will deliver value for shareholders over the long term. I'd like to thank every Proto Labs employee for their contributions in the first half of twenty twenty three. Speaker 200:13:36Although we are operating in a difficult environment, The efforts and commitment of our employees enable us to continue to perform and grow profitably. Dan will now cover our Q2 financials in-depth and provide our outlook for the Q3 of 2023. Dan? Speaker 300:13:52Thanks, Rob, and good morning, everyone. Our financial results begin on Page 9 of the slide presentation. 2nd quarter revenue of $122,300,000 was in our guidance range and down 1% year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan. Hubs had another record quarter, generating $200,000 of revenue in the 2nd quarter, representing year over year growth of 79.7% in constant currencies. Our hubs network offer continues to resonate with customers driven by its broad range of capabilities and lead time options. Speaker 300:14:26Changes in foreign currencies represented a $500,000 unfavorable impact to revenue in the 2nd quarter, in line with our expectations. 2nd quarter revenue by region is summarized on Slide 13. In the Americas, our largest region, In Europe, 2nd quarter revenue grew 13.1% year over year in constant currencies, driven by strong network offer growth. Transitioning to revenue by service. 2nd quarter injection molding revenue declined approximately 6% Year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan, we saw weaker demand for our factory offers sequentially, especially in our medical, computer electronics and manufacturing end markets. Speaker 300:15:17Europe saw a larger sequential decline than the Americas. CNC Machining revenue grew 3.5% year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan, driven by very strong network growth. 2nd quarter 3 d printing revenue grew 6% year over year in constant currencies, driven by growth in the network and in all geographies, both in the factory and the network. Sheet metal revenue declined 24% year over year in constant currencies in the quarter. As a reminder, we furloughed 25 percent of our sheet metal workforce in the 2nd quarter in an effort to align cost levels with current demand. Speaker 300:15:58We served 23,377 unique product developers in the 2nd quarter, a decrease of 2.8% year over year. Turning to Slide 17 and our detailed income statement. Overall, 2nd quarter non GAAP gross margin increased 70 basis points sequentially to 44.1 percent. Consolidated margin expansion was driven by a higher network business gross margin slightly offset by the impact of the mix shift to lower margin offers. Even with the lower volume, we are able to maintain similar factory gross margins quarter over quarter due to cost reduction initiatives. Speaker 300:16:38Network gross margin in the 2nd quarter increased 31.2 percent from 22.2 percent in the Q1 of 2023. Our long term target for network gross margin is still between 25% 30%. In the second quarter, we benefited from improvements to our sourcing algorithm and pricing efficiencies. Total non GAAP operating expenses were $43,100,000 in the quarter or 35.2 percent of revenue compared to 45,500,000 36.2 percent of revenue in the Q1 of 2023. We gained operating efficiencies sequentially due to focused efforts to control costs as well as lower incentive compensation. Speaker 300:17:22As we continue to work through the exit of our Japan operations, We incurred non operating expenses of $4,000,000 in the 2nd quarter, primarily due to the release of a $3,900,000 of Moving to taxes. Our non GAAP effective tax rate in the 2nd quarter was 25.2% compared to 23.2% in the Q1. The sequential increase in the non GAAP effective tax rate was primarily due to a Slightly lower R and D credit in the quarter. 2nd quarter non GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.33 compared to $0.30 in the Q1 of 2023. The sequential earnings per share improvement was driven primarily by network growth and gross margin expansion as well as operating expense efficiencies. Speaker 300:18:26These sequential improvements were partially offset by the continued mix shift towards longer lead times lower priced offerings. Turning to cash flow and balance sheet highlights on Slide 18. We generated $9,300,000 of cash from operations in the quarter. Our business exhibits very strong cash flow generation, enabling us to weather challenging economic climates better than peers and continue to invest in future growth. We repurchased 8,900,000 of common shares during the Q2. Speaker 300:19:00We will continue to purchase opportunistically going forward. Our balance sheet is still very strong. On June 30, 2023, we had $102,800,000 of cash and investments on our balance sheet And 0 debt. Turning to Q3 guidance as outlined on Slide 20. We expect to generate revenue between $118,000,000 $126,000,000 in the 3rd quarter. Speaker 300:19:27At the midpoint, this implies flat revenue year over year in constant currencies and excluding Japan. The closure of our Japan operations is expected to have a $1,300,000 negative year over year impact on our revenue growth. We expect foreign currency to have between $1,500,000 $2,000,000 favorable impact on revenue compared to the Q3 of 2022. Moving to earnings guidance. We anticipate non GAAP add backs in the Q3 to include stock based compensation expense of approximately $4,600,000 and amortization expense of $1,500,000 We currently estimate our 3rd quarter non GAAP effective tax rate will be 24% plus or minus 50 basis points. Speaker 300:20:17Considering this, we expect 3rd quarter non GAAP earnings per share between $0.26 $0.34 Now back to Rob for closing comments. Speaker 200:20:29Thanks, Dan. Total Labs is the most profitable and cash flow positive digital manufacturing company, allowing us to withstand challenging environments while investing in the future. Our best in class unique combined offer is gaining significant traction in the market. In the second half of the year, we will continue to improve on the things we can control and make progress on our focused 2023 priorities, which will enable long term profitable growth and shareholder value creation. Thank you for your time today. Speaker 200:21:00That concludes our prepared remarks. Dan and I will now take Operator00:21:08Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Thank you. And our first question comes from the line of Jim Ricchiuti with Needham and Company. Please proceed with your Speaker 400:21:49Thank you. Good morning. First question is On the quarter, the current quarter, yes, seasonally Q3 weaker just due to the summer months, obviously. But I'm wondering If you have any kind of read through in either the U. S. Speaker 400:22:09Or Europe, they just may Inform you of just any changes in demand trends as you exited Q2? Speaker 300:22:22Yes. What I would tell you, Jim, is what we found as we've gone through COVID And post COVID in terms of the supply chain disruption that abnormal seasonality ends up being normal seasonality. It's hard to predict in this environment kind of seasonally how things are coming in. This comes from a couple of factors, right? We've seen in past periods around COVID where normal months in which people were taking a lot of vacation, They ended up not, and you ended up seeing some different type of seasonality pattern than you normally did. Speaker 300:23:04We set the guide as we normally do. We looked at what our current demand was In July, and we looked at what our upload rates are and so forth and then did our best to project out from there What the guidance is? I don't have any better information than that, Jim. Speaker 400:23:24No, fair enough. You guys showed some nice improvement In the network gross margins in the current quarter, I'm just wondering how we Should be looking at that just relative to the goal you have out there and maybe more broadly just in general how you're thinking about gross margins In the current quarter? Speaker 200:23:46Yes. Thanks, Jim, for recognizing that. We're quite happy with that improvement in our network gross margins. And it comes from improvements that we made. We have a machine learning based pricing algorithm and we've continued to Test and validate different pricing paradigms within that, and we've seen some nice improvement, which we're happy with. Speaker 200:24:12And then also, We improved kind of how we're sourcing our opportunities to our manufacturing partners to make sure that we're really providing Then with the best fit and that's also helping us expand our margins there. You asked about the target. We communicated a target of 25% to 30% gross margin for the network. And we're still holding to that at this point because we want to continue to Test and learn as we continue to go forward, but yes, very pleased with the performance in the quarter. Speaker 400:24:49And just broadly on gross margins in this current environment across the services, are you seeing any Pricing pressure or things like that, that we need to at least consider for the current quarter gross margins. Speaker 300:25:09Yes. I think we expect things to be fairly consistent going into the next quarter. For sure, there is probably more pressure within the factory business on volume, but we've been successful And managing our variable cost as it relates to the plants, our overall headcount in our plants is down 9%. So we're adjusting as we go and as we see how this economy plays out. Speaker 400:25:44Got it. Thanks very much. Speaker 200:25:46Thank you. Operator00:25:50Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Brian Drab with William Blair. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 500:26:01Good morning, Dan. Good morning, Rob. This is Blake on for Brian. Just wanted to quickly ask, What drove the decline in product developers? I know it was just a slight decline, but was it any was it broad based across all your markets? Speaker 500:26:14Or was it anything specific? Any additional color there would be great. Speaker 300:26:18Yes. It was in general consistent with revenue, but I would say one caveat to that. Part of our growth in our network business is not just the growth in customers, which is very, very healthy. But our sales team within our hubs business is very focused on larger and larger projects. And you can see from the 80% growth rate, they're very successful at that. Speaker 300:26:48And so that's the only difference, I think, in terms of when you look at Product developer decline versus our decline in revenue in constant currencies excluding Japan. Speaker 500:27:03Got it. And then you guys mentioned as longer lead time offerings grow, it should help offset any slowness and quick turn As that longer lead time gets to the size of the quick turn business in the factory, how close are you guys to that milestone? I feel like that was an important comment. Speaker 200:27:22Yes. So we've expanded our as we talk about our comprehensive offering, we've expanded our lead time options both by offering the network options, which tend to longer lead times and also by introducing longer lead time options Debt has fulfilled through the factory, right? We've done that in our CNC business and our 3 d printing business And injection molding as well. And in CMC, we at one point, we talked about it as flexible lead times. That That's kind of the name we talked about when we launched it. Speaker 200:27:57So those are in place and they're continuing to gain traction. Speaker 500:28:03Understood. And then just lastly for me on your capital allocation strategy, I know you guys mentioned you keep purchasing shares. But how does your M and A pipeline look? Have you seen anything there where you could add on to either hubs or your impactory offerings? Yes. Speaker 500:28:22What I would say Speaker 300:28:23is we're 1st primarily focused on the acquisition of Hubs and making it successful. You can kind of see that in the results of Hubs. We've been very focused on cross selling and on improving the e Experience that integrates both the factory and the network, that is our primary focus right now. Speaker 500:28:49Understood. I'll pass it along. Thank you. Speaker 200:28:52Thank you. Operator00:28:56Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Greg Palm with Craig Hallum Capital Group. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 600:29:04Hey, thanks. Good morning, Tom. Thanks for taking the questions. I wanted to start with a question just about the demand environment, but maybe I'm going to ask a little bit different way, I'm just kind of curious if you're seeing any change in customer behavior, whether it's customers ordering More parts or whether they're doing more expedited, any change in behavior that gives you some indication Any underlying change in the macro? Are you seeing any of that? Speaker 600:29:34Or is it pretty steady relative to what you've been kind of seeing year to date? Speaker 200:29:40I think year to date there hasn't been that much change quarter on quarter, but I would say overall we're And then we talked about this a little bit in the script, right, that we're seeing customers have a tendency to be less in a hurry. And so utilizing our longer lead time options more. Speaker 300:30:02I think the other thing, Greg, that we saw, maybe this Specifically for our factory business in Europe, as we did see larger projects that we talked about in the Q1 earnings call. We were not seeing as many of those in the second quarter. And on some of those larger projects, We're having customers upload that are being indecisive and longer in terms of making decisions on those. And I think we called it out a bit, Greg, in my commentary on injection molding. I think we're seeing Particular softness in Medical and Consumer Electronics. Speaker 600:30:43Okay. That's helpful. On gross margin, just a follow-up. Was there anything sort of non recurring or one time? I know we've We've been talking about 25% to 30 percent hubs. Speaker 600:30:56You were a little bit below that in Q1, but yet really nicely outperformed in Q2. So, but I think you reiterated, you still expect 25% to 30%. So just kind of curious whether there was Anything unusual that drove the upside specifically in the quarter? Speaker 300:31:13So two things. We talked About this, Greg, I don't remember us talking about this maybe last year and the year prior. For the hubs business in terms of where the NPs are sourced, Chinese New Year does have an impact in Q1 and ends up being pressure on our margin. I would say Q1 was well kind of below the average, right? So as part of the pickup was there. Speaker 300:31:41I would say the second thing is we did make changes to our model That were quite successful. And some of those changes are on the demand sourcing side and some of those changes are Optimizing the pricing for different types of geometries and materials. So we did implement changes we had been working on In the quarter as well. Those were the 2 primary drivers. Speaker 600:32:11And just to be clear, those were not just 1 quarter type changes. That's Something that will affect the go forward? Speaker 300:32:18Correct. Speaker 600:32:20And so if that's the case Speaker 300:32:22But we will see how successful those things are. I'm not letting 3 months kind of dictate where that's going to be, Greg, Before adjusting the longer term model of the 25% to 30%. Speaker 600:32:36Yes. Okay. No, that's fair. And then just I guess my last question, Operating expenses took another sort of tick down in Q2, so you're clearly managing costs pretty well. What's the expectation going forward? Speaker 600:32:52Is this kind of a good sort of level, good run rate? Or are you going to continue to sort of manage that pretty tightly? Speaker 300:32:59I think as you can see from our guide, we're expecting to be flattish at the midpoint quarter over quarter. So we would hold where they are now, but this is a dynamic environment. So Depending on if the revenue goes up or down, we're going to need to be flexible, right, and continue to Find ways to be more efficient. Speaker 600:33:26Got it. Okay. I will leave it there. Thanks. Operator00:33:32Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Ben Rose with Battle Road Research. Please proceed with your question. Speaker 700:33:40Thank you and good morning. In the customer examples that you've cited, It does seem like there's a growing number of customers that are taking advantage of both the factory and the network services. Can you comment either quantitatively or qualitatively the percent of either customers or developers that are at this point Drawing upon both services. Speaker 200:34:08Yes, I think yes, certainly. Good morning, Ben. Thank you. I think as you look at the growth that we've had in the network, 70% last quarter, 80 Percent in the Q1, 80% in the Q2. You can see that I think we've been quite successful with our sales team Ian, exposing our broader offerings and both the combination of the network and the factory to our customers And driving them to those solutions as well as the ones that they're finding on their own through using our website. Speaker 200:34:44And so we're definitely seeing a nice Healthy uptick in customers who are using us in this much more holistic way And have been quite satisfied with that. Speaker 700:34:59Okay. And How critical is it for some of these larger customers that some of the network partners, particularly As it pertains to volume production that these partners are located outside the U. S? Speaker 200:35:18So that varies depending upon the customer and what their needs are. And we've got network partners that are In region, both in the U. S. And in Europe, and then we've got them globally as well. And so we make the match Speaker 700:35:44Question on sourcing of materials. I'm wondering if Some of the improvement, for example, in Hubs gross margin might be traceable to your ability to obtain Lower priced commodities in this market is prices have adjusted post COVID. Speaker 300:36:11Yes. You had mentioned hubs. And just as a reminder, Ben, in the network business, we're not procuring the material for the MPs. The entities are procuring them that material. In terms of We're kind of outside the we feel we're outside of the supply chain constraint, right? Speaker 300:36:34We're able to Procure materials now and that's not an issue with in terms of our on time delivery Or gross margins, no. Speaker 700:36:47Okay. I guess what I really meant to say excuse me, meant to ask in terms of the price That the manufacturing partner is accepting at this point, is that do you think that they're more Likely to accept a quote from you when knowing that commodity prices have stabilized. Speaker 200:37:14Yes. I think that in general we've seen the worst of the supply chain price impacts Normalized, so that's benefited us. As Dan said, it also benefits our manufacturing partners And that factors into the prices that they require in order to take the business. Speaker 700:37:38Okay. And then finally in terms of end markets, I know you mentioned some softness in medical and consumer electronics. The first question is looking out over the next few months, do you think that that Business has the ability to come back? And then also can you comment a little bit on What's happening in terms of EV prototyping and potentially low volume production there? Speaker 300:38:13Yes. In terms of the softness we're seeing in Medical and Consumer Electronics, I think part of what we're seeing is we're seeing people upload And then us having talked with the customers and then pushing off in terms of projects. We think the volume we believe the volume is there, right, to be had once we are past whatever economic cycle we're in. Just a reminder, I mean, in injection molding, we offer a service nobody else can, right, in terms of the speed that we can get injection mold parts to her. So, yes, we believe in the second half, if we see improvement from a macro perspective that, yes, that demand will pick up. Speaker 300:38:59Rob, you want to take the EV question? Speaker 200:39:01Yes, absolutely. So yes, thank you for that. Automotive, first of all, was strong for us in the quarter. And Electric vehicles is definitely a very strong sub segment for us within automotive. In fact, generally, Within industries, the subsectors that do best for us are those that are new and where there's a lot of innovation going on. Speaker 200:39:23And certainly, EV is At the very forefront of that for automotive and so that's absolutely a strong business for us. Speaker 700:39:32Okay. Thanks a lot. Speaker 200:39:34Thank you. Operator00:39:38Thank you. We have reached the end of our question and answer session. And with that, This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.Read morePowered by