PRLB vs DDD vs GE Stock Comparison

Proto Labs, 3D Systems and General Electric Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$86.35 -10.4% 1M +58.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.14B
P/E
70.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$560.54M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
3 wins
DDD 3D Systems Corp
$2.95 -17.4% 1M -5.8% 1Y
Market cap
$449.88M
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
$308.75B
P/E
33.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.01%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
7 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.

QuestionPRLBDDDGELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.14B $449.88M $308.75B GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 70.4x -8.2x 33.9x GE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.7x — 38.0x PRLB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.2% -6.2% +19.6% GE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% -14.2% 17.3% 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% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +58.0% -5.8% -5.1% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.2%/yr -35.8%/yr +34.9%/yr GE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.9% 84.2% 33.1% GE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 31/100 45/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

PRLBDDDGE

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

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

Price Performance

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

Returns

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

Risk

MeasurePRLBDDDGESPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.9%84.2%33.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.0%75.4%35.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.072.821.20 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.24-0.07-0.15 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.0%-96.0%-45.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.5%-24.0%-24.3% -1.8%
52-week high $98.64$3.88$381.07 $779.14
52-week low $46.81$1.77$273.25 $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.

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

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 monthsPRLBDDDGE
Revenue $560.54M $387.64M $52.58B
Gross profit $254.60M $131.01M $18.52B
Operating income $36.81M -$61.26M -$16.58B
Net income $30.48M -$54.85M $9.13B
Free cash flow $56.66M -$52.40M $7.99B
R&D $42.36M $47.60M $1.81B
EPS (diluted) $1.25 $-0.37 $8.74
Cash & equivalents $127.92M $127.95M $8.76B
Total debt – $91.18M $19.33B
Shares (diluted) 24.42M 148.97M 1.04B
Enterprise value $1.62B $45.67M $267.26B

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

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPRLBDDDGE
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 12.6% 48.9% 86.0%
Equity / assets 87.4% 51.1% 14.0%
Interest coverage – – -17.9x
Current ratio 3.6x 3.4x 1.0x
Quick ratio 3.2x 1.9x 0.6x
Cash ratio 2.0x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 14.05 -1.48 2.63

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPRLBDDDGE
Dividend yield – – 0.6%
Net buyback yield 0.6% -10.9% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 0.6% -10.9% 3.5%
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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

PRLBDDDGE
PRLB 1.00 0.47 0.35
DDD 0.47 1.00 0.12
GE 0.35 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PRLB, DDD and GE?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Proto Labs (PRLB) $2.14B, 3D Systems (DDD) $449.88M, General Electric (GE) $308.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, PRLB, DDD and GE?

General Electric (GE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Proto Labs (PRLB) 70.4x, 3D Systems (DDD) -8.2x, General Electric (GE) 33.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Proto Labs (PRLB) is cheapest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 37.7x, General Electric (GE) 38.0x). 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: Proto Labs (PRLB) +10.2%, 3D Systems (DDD) -6.2%, General Electric (GE) +19.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

General Electric (GE) has the highest net margin (Proto Labs (PRLB) 5.4%, 3D Systems (DDD) -14.2%, General Electric (GE) 17.3%). 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: Proto Labs (PRLB) +58.0%, 3D Systems (DDD) -5.8%, General Electric (GE) -5.1%. Over five years, General Electric (GE) compounded fastest (Proto Labs (PRLB) +3.2%/yr, 3D Systems (DDD) -35.8%/yr, General Electric (GE) +34.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

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

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

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.