PRLB vs LECO vs SSYS Stock Comparison

Proto Labs, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Stratasys Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$91.00 -6.1% 1M +70.1% 1Y
Market cap
$1.85B
P/E
60.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$560.54M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
2 wins
SSYS Stratasys Ltd.
$7.15 -14.9% 1M -38.0% 1Y
Market cap
$573.66M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$547.27M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 7, Proto Labs 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPRLBLECOSSYSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.85B $15.54B $573.66M LECO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 60.6x 27.0x -12.5x LECO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 39.7x 24.1x 71.5x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.2% +11.1% -3.1% LECO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% 12.4% -8.4% LECO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +70.1% +16.6% -38.0% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.8%/yr +14.5%/yr -25.7%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.9% 30.8% 47.7% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 55/100 37/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

PRLBLECOSSYS

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

AxisPRLBLECOSSYS
Valuation 32 #138 of 203 36 #130 of 203 36 #131 of 203
Growth 83 #32 of 188 43 #107 of 188 21 #148 of 188
Profitability 49 #94 of 184 95 #11 of 184 13 #161 of 184
Financial Health 95 #11 of 217 45 #119 of 217 79 #46 of 217
Shareholder Returns 38 #96 of 153 57 #66 of 153 –
Overall 60 55 37
  • PRLB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • SSYS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPRLBLECOSSYSSPY
1 month -6.1%+3.5%-14.9% +0.9%
3 months +27.6%+8.8%-6.8% +5.9%
6 months +46.2%+9.0%-15.6% +8.5%
Year to date +79.9%+17.1%-17.6% +13.3%
1 year +70.1%+16.6%-38.0% +12.4%
3 years +290.9%+62.5%-30.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +57.6%+17.6%-11.3% +23.5%
5 years +52.1%+97.0%-77.3% +68.2%
5 years, per year +8.8%+14.5%-25.7% +11.0%
10 years +104.7%+328.4%-62.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year +7.4%+15.7%-9.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasurePRLBLECOSSYSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.9%30.8%47.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.1%31.2%46.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.081.182.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.500.54-0.80 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.6%-35.3%-83.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.7%-6.1%-38.5% -0.9%
52-week high $98.64$298.88$11.62 $779.14
52-week low $46.81$220.64$6.80 $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.

MultiplePRLBLECOSSYS
P/E now vs peer median 71.6xmedian 25.4x 26.5xmedian 25.4x -12.7xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 1.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x 1.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.3xmedian 14.3x 17.7xmedian 14.3x -12.2xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 38.4xmedian 21.8x 29.7xmedian 21.8x -26.5xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 2.2x 9.8xmedian 2.2x 0.8xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.41 3.80median 1.41 -29.23median 1.41

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 monthsPRLBLECOSSYS
Revenue $560.54M $4.64B $547.27M
Gross profit $254.60M $1.65B $221.15M
Operating income $36.81M $802.52M -$83.46M
Net income $30.48M $575.27M -$115.18M
Free cash flow $56.66M $511.89M -$23.24M
R&D $42.36M – $77.20M
EPS (diluted) $1.25 $10.48 $-0.56
Cash & equivalents $127.92M $283.24M $92.53M
Total debt – $1.15B –
Shares (diluted) 24.42M 54.87M 82.30M
Enterprise value $1.32B $14.40B -$376.15M

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
MetricPRLBLECOSSYS
P/E 71.6x 26.5x -12.7x
P/FCF 38.4x 29.7x -26.5x
P/Operating cash flow 27.7x 22.8x -134.4x
P/S 3.9x 3.3x 1.1x
P/B 3.1x 9.8x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 9.8x 0.8x
EV/EBITDA 29.3x 17.7x -12.2x
EV/EBIT 55.3x 20.0x -4.8x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 3.5x 0.7x
EV/FCF 35.9x 31.4x -17.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.9x 24.1x -88.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 3.80 -29.23

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOSSYS
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.2% 11.1% -3.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 4.5% -4.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.3% 7.7% -12.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 5.5% -6.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 121.9% 12.9% -30.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.2% 7.0% -9.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 105.8% 9.6% -17.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 31.6% 4.9% -37.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 103.1% 11.0% 59.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 32.0% 7.0% 0.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.6% 0.7% -172.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 0.5% 61.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -14.0% -6.3% -116.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.9% -3.6% 36.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOSSYS
Gross margin 45.4% 35.5% 40.4%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 19.5% -6.1%
Operating margin 6.6% 17.3% -15.3%
Pretax margin 7.6% 16.2% -13.1%
Net margin 5.4% 12.4% -8.4%
FCF margin 10.1% 11.0% -4.2%
Operating cash flow margin 14.0% 14.4% -0.8%
Return on equity 4.4% 37.0% -14.0%
Return on assets 3.9% 14.9% -10.9%
Return on invested capital – 22.6% –
Return on capital employed 5.2% 27.7% -9.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.6x 1.2x 0.0x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 0.5% 4.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOSSYS
Debt / assets – 29.5% –
Debt / equity – 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x –
Debt / FCF – 2.2x –
Liabilities / assets 12.6% 60.1% 22.0%
Equity / assets 87.4% 39.9% 78.0%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 3.6x 1.9x 3.5x
Quick ratio 3.2x 1.0x 2.3x
Cash ratio 2.0x 0.3x 1.3x
Altman Z-score 14.72 7.71 -0.98

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOSSYS
Dividend yield – 1.1% –
Net buyback yield 0.6% 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 0.6% 2.9% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 33.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.3% –

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.

ConsensusPRLBLECOSSYS
Forward P/E 39.7xFY2026 24.1xFY2026 71.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.29FY2026 $11.62FY2026 $0.10FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +38.0%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 -33.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +0.4% +100.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $612.40MFY2026 $4.84BFY2026 $582.47MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 +5.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +5.5% +6.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPRLBLECOSSYS
Held by institutions 93.7% 81.3% 50.8%
Institutions holding 276 701 150
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +5.5% +7.3%
Institutions buying 145 297 79
Institutions selling 89 266 29
Buyers to sellers 1.63 1.12 2.72

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.

PRLBLECOSSYS
PRLB 1.00 0.50 0.66
LECO 0.50 1.00 0.40
SSYS 0.66 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PRLB, LECO and SSYS?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Proto Labs (PRLB) $1.85B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.54B, Stratasys (SSYS) $573.66M.

Which stock is cheaper, PRLB, LECO and SSYS?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Proto Labs (PRLB) 60.6x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 27.0x, Stratasys (SSYS) -12.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 39.7x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.1x, Stratasys (SSYS) 71.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Proto Labs (PRLB) +10.2%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%, Stratasys (SSYS) -3.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest net margin (Proto Labs (PRLB) 5.4%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%, Stratasys (SSYS) -8.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Proto Labs (PRLB) returned the most: Proto Labs (PRLB) +70.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%, Stratasys (SSYS) -38.0%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Proto Labs (PRLB) +8.8%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +14.5%/yr, Stratasys (SSYS) -25.7%/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%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 0.01%, Stratasys (SSYS) 0.00%. Proto Labs (PRLB) and Stratasys (SSYS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has been the steadiest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 46.9%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%, Stratasys (SSYS) 47.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PRLB, LECO and SSYS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 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.