PRLB vs GE vs DDD Stock Comparison

Proto Labs, General Electric and 3D Systems Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$77.76 -18.6% 1M +47.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.86B
P/E
53.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$579.49M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
3 wins
GE General Electric Co
$313.11 -1.6% 1M -0.4% 1Y
Market cap
$323.55B
P/E
35.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.57%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
7 wins
DDD 3D Systems Corp
$2.93 -16.8% 1M -3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$486.81M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$387.64M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
1 win

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.

QuestionPRLBGEDDDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.86B $323.55B $486.81M GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 53.3x 35.6x -8.0x GE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.0x 41.3x — PRLB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.8% +19.6% -6.2% GE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 17.3% -14.2% GE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -38.7% -17.8% DDD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.7x 1.0x GE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.57% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +47.6% -0.4% -3.3% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.4%/yr +36.8%/yr -36.4%/yr GE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 49.5% 33.4% 83.8% GE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 46/100 31/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

PRLBGEDDD

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

AxisPRLBGEDDD
Valuation 41 #121 of 203 33 #67 of 100 17 #169 of 203
Growth 80 #38 of 188 33 #65 of 96 59 #77 of 188
Profitability 50 #92 of 183 57 #41 of 95 11 #163 of 183
Financial Health 95 #11 of 216 20 #84 of 105 65 #76 of 216
Shareholder Returns 27 #111 of 152 84 #11 of 65 5 #145 of 152
Overall 59 46 31
  • PRLB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • GE ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • DDD ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPRLBGEDDDSPY
1 month -18.6%-1.6%-16.8% +0.7%
3 months +3.7%-11.8%+8.5% +3.7%
6 months +20.0%+8.0%+19.1% +7.1%
Year to date +53.7%+1.6%+65.5% +12.8%
1 year +47.6%-0.4%-3.3% +11.9%
3 years +232.2%+257.3%-21.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +49.2%+52.9%-7.6% +22.8%
5 years +30.0%+379.2%-89.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year +5.4%+36.8%-36.4% +10.9%
10 years +74.9%+123.6%-78.7% +262.0%
10 years, per year +5.8%+8.4%-14.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePRLBGEDDDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 49.5%33.4%83.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.3%35.3%74.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.121.202.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.96-0.01-0.04 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.6%-45.1%-96.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.2%-17.8%-24.5% -1.2%
52-week high $98.64$381.07$3.88 $779.14
52-week low $46.81$273.25$1.77 $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.

MultiplePRLBGEDDD
P/E now vs peer median 53.3xmedian 25.8x 35.6xmedian 26.9x -8.0xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 1.9x 6.2xmedian 3.0x 1.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.8xmedian 14.6x -21.8xmedian 15.0x -11.6xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 38.2xmedian 22.2x 40.5xmedian 27.2x -9.3xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.2x 18.2xmedian 2.5x 1.8xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.61median 1.45 -124.64median 0.93 -0.30median 1.45

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 monthsPRLBGEDDD
Revenue $579.49M $52.58B $387.64M
Gross profit $261.97M $18.52B $131.01M
Operating income $42.44M -$16.58B -$61.26M
Net income $35.02M $9.13B -$54.85M
Free cash flow $48.61M $7.99B -$52.40M
R&D $42.67M $1.81B $47.60M
EPS (diluted) $1.43 $8.74 $-0.37
Cash & equivalents $133.78M $8.76B $127.95M
Total debt – $19.33B $91.18M
Shares (diluted) 24.44M 1.04B 148.97M
Enterprise value $1.30B $282.30B $82.60M

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
MetricPRLBGEDDD
P/E 53.3x 35.6x -8.0x
P/FCF 38.2x 40.5x -9.3x
P/Operating cash flow 25.7x 34.3x -11.5x
P/S 3.2x 6.2x 1.3x
P/B 2.6x 18.2x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 23.6x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA 22.8x -21.8x -11.6x
EV/EBIT 40.2x -20.2x -7.3x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 6.4x 1.2x
EV/FCF 35.1x 41.8x -8.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.6x 35.4x -10.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.61 -124.64 -0.30

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPRLBGEDDD
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.8% 19.6% -6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 7.2% -9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.5% 11.7% -9.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 10.9% -13.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 152.4% 13.2% 76.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.6% -98.5% 21.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 136.0% 13.2% 62.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 32.6% -3.4% 23.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 133.6% 15.5% 53.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 33.1% -0.3% 26.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -4.2% 21.4% 38.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 6.3% 18.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -28.2% 20.1% 36.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.8% 2.7% 20.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPRLBGEDDD
Gross margin 45.2% 35.2% 33.8%
EBITDA margin 12.9% -29.1% -10.0%
Operating margin 7.3% -31.5% -15.8%
Pretax margin 8.3% 20.3% -11.7%
Net margin 6.0% 17.3% -14.2%
FCF margin 8.4% 15.2% -13.5%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% 17.9% -10.9%
Return on equity 5.0% 51.2% -21.7%
Return on assets 4.4% 7.2% -10.5%
Return on invested capital – -38.7% -17.8%
Return on capital employed 5.9% -19.5% -14.7%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 1.0x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.5% – 3.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPRLBGEDDD
Debt / assets – 15.2% 17.0%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.7x 1.0x
Debt / FCF – 2.4x -1.7x
Liabilities / assets 13.1% 86.0% 48.9%
Equity / assets 86.9% 14.0% 51.1%
Interest coverage – -17.9x –
Current ratio 3.6x 1.0x 3.4x
Quick ratio 3.3x 0.6x 1.9x
Cash ratio 2.0x 0.2x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 12.13 2.77 -1.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPRLBGEDDD
Dividend yield – 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 0.3% 2.6% -10.9%
Shareholder yield 0.3% 3.2% -10.9%
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.

ConsensusPRLBGEDDD
Forward P/E 34.0xFY2026 41.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $2.29FY2026 $7.59FY2026 $-0.14FY2026
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 $54.10BFY2026 $368.77MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +27.8%FY2026 -4.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +11.8% +7.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPRLBGEDDD
Held by institutions 93.7% 79.4% 71.1%
Institutions holding 277 3,444 210
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +1.5% +34.8%
Institutions buying 146 1,831 126
Institutions selling 89 1,149 37
Buyers to sellers 1.64 1.59 3.41

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.

PRLBGEDDD
PRLB 1.00 0.30 0.45
GE 0.30 1.00 0.12
DDD 0.45 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PRLB, GE and DDD?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Proto Labs (PRLB) $1.86B, General Electric (GE) $323.55B, 3D Systems (DDD) $486.81M.

Which stock is cheaper, PRLB, GE and DDD?

General Electric (GE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Proto Labs (PRLB) 53.3x, General Electric (GE) 35.6x, 3D Systems (DDD) -8.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Proto Labs (PRLB) is cheapest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 34.0x, General Electric (GE) 41.3x). 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) +11.8%, General Electric (GE) +19.6%, 3D Systems (DDD) -6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

General Electric (GE) has the highest net margin (Proto Labs (PRLB) 6.0%, General Electric (GE) 17.3%, 3D Systems (DDD) -14.2%). On return on invested capital, 3D Systems (DDD) leads (General Electric (GE) -38.7%, 3D Systems (DDD) -17.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Proto Labs (PRLB) returned the most: Proto Labs (PRLB) +47.6%, General Electric (GE) -0.4%, 3D Systems (DDD) -3.3%. Over five years, General Electric (GE) compounded fastest (Proto Labs (PRLB) +5.4%/yr, General Electric (GE) +36.8%/yr, 3D Systems (DDD) -36.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: General Electric (GE) 0.57%. 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) 49.5%, General Electric (GE) 33.4%, 3D Systems (DDD) 83.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.