After a tough 2024, Velo3D (OTC: VLDX) is moving forward with a new strategy.The company, which built its reputation on cutting-edge metal 3D printing, just wrapped up 2024 with a series of major changes, including a new ownership structure, a new strategy, and tighter spending.Leadership hopes the recent changes will set the stage for steady growth.
For the fourth quarter of 2024, Velo3D posted $12.6 million in revenue, ending a year where total sales reached $41 million.While that’s nearly half of what the company made in 2023, the new leadership says the business is finally on a clearer path.The Velo3D team at Formnext 2023.
Image courtesy of Velo3D via LinkedIn.CEO Arun Jeldi called the last quarter “transformational,” pointing to lower costs, stronger operations, and early success with the company’s new Rapid Production Solutions (RPS) business, a parts production service that delivers high-quality components quickly and reliably.Velo3D expects this new offering to generate up to 40% of its revenue by 2026.
“These initiatives focused on a number of critical areas, including expanding our revenue streams to maximize growth, increasing gross margin, improving our manufacturing efficiency, and reducing operating expenses, all while laying the foundation for our new business model—one we believe will accelerate our path to long-term profitability,” said Jeldi.“As a result of our progress, we believe we are now in a much stronger financial and operational position to execute our strategic priorities and reclaim our leadership in additive manufacturing.” The company’s new go-to-market model focuses less on selling just hardware and more on offering total solutions, especially for defense and aerospace customers.According to Jeldi, this change is already generating results.
Velo3D says it expects revenue to grow more than 30% in 2025 and plans to reach EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) profitability by the first half of 2026.Four of Launcher’s Orbiter engines, 3D printed with Velo3D’s technology.Image courtesy of Velo3D/Launcher.
One reason for this optimism is a recent deal that helped Velo3D erase a big chunk of its debt.The company had borrowed money from two investment firms, but when it ran into financial trouble, a third firm, Arrayed Notes Acquisition Corp., stepped in and bought that debt.Instead of asking for the money back, Arrayed agreed to cancel about $22 million of it in exchange for a large number of Velo3D shares.
That move made Arrayed the company’s new majority owner and gave Velo3D some breathing room to focus on the rebuilding part and helped strengthen its balance sheet.At the same time, Velo3D has been cutting its expenses, reducing operating costs by 25% in 2024 compared to the previous year.The VELO3D management team during the bell ringing at the NYSE on October 7, 2021.
Image courtesy of VELO3D.But to understand how Velo3D got here, it helps to go back and see what the company has been through.Founded to push metal additive manufacturing to new heights, Velo3D went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2021 via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) merger deal with JAWS Spitfire Acquisition.
It grew quickly but ran into financial trouble.In late 2023, the company removed longtime CEO and founder Benny Buller and began a strategic overhaul.Just weeks later, Velo3D received a non-compliance notice from the NYSE and was ultimately delisted, moving to the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
It also announced close to 45% of workforce cuts and restructured debt with creditors to stay afloat.Meanwhile, Benny Buller was on to his next endeavor.Building on his early career in Israeli Intelligence and years of experience in tech and manufacturing, Buller co-founded a new company called Uptool.
Based in San Francisco, Uptool is a seed-stage software startup building an “AI Operating System for Manufacturing.” Buller told Medium that the goal is to rethink manufacturing from the ground up, this time with a more balanced founding structure and lessons learned from Velo3D.VELO3D CEO Benny Buller after the ringing of the bell at the NYSE on October 7, 2021.Image courtesy of VELO3D.
As Buller steps into his next chapter, Velo3D continues to rebuild.Its fourth-quarter financials suggest mixed results.Revenue is climbing back, but the company still reported a net loss of $21.7 million for the quarter and a $73.3 million loss for the full year.
This is an improvement compared to 2023, when the company faced a net loss of $58.2 million in the fourth quarter and a total annual net loss of $135 million.Gross margins remain negative, though management expects that to change in 2025 as production scales and operations improve.The company also projects capital spending of up to $20 million next year.
Velo3D is forecasting 2025 revenue between $50 million and $60 million and expects its gross margin to climb above 30% by the end of the year.Operating expenses are projected to land between $40 million and $50 million, and adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2024 came in at a loss of $14.6 million.The company reported a negative gross margin of 5.1% for 2024, much better than the 33.9% negative margin in 2023.
Jeldi says the outlook is improving, driven by early demand for RPS and closer ties with key industries.Designed to deliver scalable, high-quality parts quickly, RPS promises to shorten design cycles, speed up qualification, and use a U.S.-based supply chain to give customers more flexibility.“We have renewed confidence in achieving our future goals,” concluded Jeldi.
“Our new total solutions approach builds upon our legacy of successful systems sales to OEMs by integrating internal parts production capabilities for our customers while maintaining our industry-leading customer service.We believe this model fully leverages our extensive product and materials expertise and will result in more diversified revenue streams while driving margin expansion.” Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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