DDD vs GE vs PRLB Stock Comparison

3D Systems, General Electric and Proto Labs Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DDD 3D Systems Corp
$2.95 -17.4% 1M -5.8% 1Y
Market cap
$446.16M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$387.64M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
1 win
GE General Electric Co
$288.37 -11.9% 1M -5.1% 1Y
Market cap
$306.53B
P/E
33.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.01%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
7 wins
PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$86.35 -10.4% 1M +58.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.14B
P/E
70.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$560.54M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

General Electric leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (General Electric 7, Proto Labs 3, 3D Systems 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDDDGEPRLBLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $446.16M $306.53B $2.14B GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -8.1x 33.7x 70.1x GE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 38.0x 37.7x PRLB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -6.2% +19.6% +10.2% GE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -14.2% 17.3% 5.4% GE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -17.8% -38.7% — DDD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x -0.7x — GE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -5.8% -5.1% +58.0% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -35.8%/yr +34.9%/yr +3.2%/yr GE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 84.2% 33.1% 46.9% GE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 31/100 45/100 59/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

DDDGEPRLB

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisDDDGEPRLB
Valuation 16 #170 of 203 33 #67 of 100 33 #136 of 203
Growth 59 #78 of 187 33 #65 of 97 83 #33 of 187
Profitability 11 #164 of 185 60 #39 of 96 51 #92 of 185
Financial Health 65 #78 of 219 18 #86 of 105 95 #11 of 219
Shareholder Returns 5 #145 of 153 83 #12 of 64 36 #99 of 153
Overall 31 45 59
  • DDD ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • GE ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • PRLB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodDDDGEPRLBSPY
1 month -17.4%-11.9%-10.4% -0.8%
3 months +12.2%-20.3%+11.2% +3.5%
6 months +33.5%+1.3%+35.4% +7.0%
Year to date +66.7%-6.4%+70.7% +12.2%
1 year -5.8%-5.1%+58.0% +13.0%
3 years -17.1%+239.7%+270.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -6.1%+50.4%+54.8% +23.1%
5 years -89.1%+345.7%+17.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year -35.8%+34.9%+3.2% +11.0%
10 years -79.3%+108.4%+67.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year -14.6%+7.6%+5.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureDDDGEPRLBSPY
Volatility, 1Y 84.2%33.1%46.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 75.4%35.2%39.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.821.202.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.07-0.151.24 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -96.0%-45.1%-70.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.0%-24.3%-12.5% -1.8%
52-week high $3.88$381.07$98.64 $779.14
52-week low $1.77$273.25$46.81 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleDDDGEPRLB
P/E now vs peer median -8.0xmedian 26.0x 32.8xmedian 26.8x 67.9xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.9x 5.7xmedian 2.9x 3.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -11.7xmedian 14.0x -20.2xmedian 15.2x 27.7xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -9.4xmedian 21.4x 37.3xmedian 25.5x 36.5xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.2x 16.8xmedian 2.5x 3.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -0.30median 1.26 -114.79median 0.94 2.12median 1.26

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsDDDGEPRLB
Revenue $387.64M $52.58B $560.54M
Gross profit $131.01M $18.52B $254.60M
Operating income -$61.26M -$16.58B $36.81M
Net income -$54.85M $9.13B $30.48M
Free cash flow -$52.40M $7.99B $56.66M
R&D $47.60M $1.81B $42.36M
EPS (diluted) $-0.37 $8.74 $1.25
Cash & equivalents $127.95M $8.76B $127.92M
Total debt $91.18M $19.33B –
Shares (diluted) 148.97M 1.04B 24.42M
Enterprise value $41.95M $265.04B $1.61B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricDDDGEPRLB
P/E -8.0x 32.8x 67.9x
P/FCF -9.4x 37.3x 36.5x
P/Operating cash flow -11.6x 31.6x 26.3x
P/S 1.3x 5.7x 3.7x
P/B 1.8x 16.8x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 21.7x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA -11.7x -20.2x 27.7x
EV/EBIT -7.4x -18.6x 52.2x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 5.9x 3.4x
EV/FCF -8.7x 38.6x 33.9x
EV/Operating cash flow -10.7x 32.7x 24.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.30 -114.79 2.12

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDDDGEPRLB
Revenue growth (1Y) -6.2% 19.6% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -9.0% 7.2% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -9.6% 11.7% 13.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -13.8% 10.9% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 76.7% 13.2% 121.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 21.6% -98.5% 33.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 62.1% 13.2% 105.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 23.3% -3.4% 31.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 53.6% 15.5% 103.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.7% -0.3% 32.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 38.0% 21.4% 10.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.5% 6.3% 7.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.8% 20.1% -14.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.0% 2.7% 11.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDDDGEPRLB
Gross margin 33.8% 35.2% 45.4%
EBITDA margin -10.0% -29.1% 12.4%
Operating margin -15.8% -31.5% 6.6%
Pretax margin -11.7% 20.3% 7.6%
Net margin -14.2% 17.3% 5.4%
FCF margin -13.5% 15.2% 10.1%
Operating cash flow margin -10.9% 17.9% 14.0%
Return on equity -21.7% 51.2% 4.4%
Return on assets -10.5% 7.2% 3.9%
Return on invested capital -17.8% -38.7% –
Return on capital employed -14.7% -19.5% 5.2%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x 1.0x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% – 2.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDDDGEPRLB
Debt / assets 17.0% 15.2% –
Debt / equity 0.3x 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x -0.7x –
Debt / FCF -1.7x 2.4x –
Liabilities / assets 48.9% 86.0% 12.6%
Equity / assets 51.1% 14.0% 87.4%
Interest coverage – -17.9x –
Current ratio 3.4x 1.0x 3.6x
Quick ratio 1.9x 0.6x 3.2x
Cash ratio 1.2x 0.2x 2.0x
Altman Z-score -1.48 2.63 14.05

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDDDGEPRLB
Dividend yield – 0.6% –
Net buyback yield -10.9% 2.9% 0.6%
Shareholder yield -10.9% 3.5% 0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 19.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 21.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 26.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 36.5% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusDDDGEPRLB
Forward P/E – 38.0xFY2026 37.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.14FY2026 $7.59FY2026 $2.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +19.2%FY2026 +38.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +28.1% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $368.77MFY2026 $54.10BFY2026 $612.40MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.7%FY2026 +27.8%FY2026 +14.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +11.8% +4.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDDDGEPRLB
Held by institutions 71.1% 79.4% 93.7%
Institutions holding 210 3,441 276
Change in shares held, QoQ +34.8% +1.5% +1.7%
Institutions buying 126 1,829 145
Institutions selling 37 1,148 89
Buyers to sellers 3.41 1.59 1.63

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

DDDGEPRLB
DDD 1.00 0.12 0.47
GE 0.12 1.00 0.35
PRLB 0.47 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DDD, GE and PRLB?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: 3D Systems (DDD) $446.16M, General Electric (GE) $306.53B, Proto Labs (PRLB) $2.14B.

Which stock is cheaper, DDD, GE and PRLB?

General Electric (GE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (3D Systems (DDD) -8.1x, General Electric (GE) 33.7x, Proto Labs (PRLB) 70.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Proto Labs (PRLB) is cheapest (General Electric (GE) 38.0x, Proto Labs (PRLB) 37.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

General Electric (GE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: 3D Systems (DDD) -6.2%, General Electric (GE) +19.6%, Proto Labs (PRLB) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

General Electric (GE) has the highest net margin (3D Systems (DDD) -14.2%, General Electric (GE) 17.3%, Proto Labs (PRLB) 5.4%). On return on invested capital, 3D Systems (DDD) leads (3D Systems (DDD) -17.8%, General Electric (GE) -38.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Proto Labs (PRLB) returned the most: 3D Systems (DDD) -5.8%, General Electric (GE) -5.1%, Proto Labs (PRLB) +58.0%. Over five years, General Electric (GE) compounded fastest (3D Systems (DDD) -35.8%/yr, General Electric (GE) +34.9%/yr, Proto Labs (PRLB) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: 3D Systems (DDD) 0.00%, General Electric (GE) 0.01%, Proto Labs (PRLB) 0.00%. 3D Systems (DDD) and Proto Labs (PRLB) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Electric (GE) has been the steadiest (3D Systems (DDD) 84.2%, General Electric (GE) 33.1%, Proto Labs (PRLB) 46.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DDD, GE and PRLB?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, General Electric (GE) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.