A few companies have posted Q2 results this week, and it’s worth taking a quick look to see how things are going. No one’s saying these are a bellwether for the 3D capture industry, but maybe we can tease a thing or two out of them.
First up is Trimble. They’ve got to be happy with Q2. The company as a whole saw revenue grow by 22 percent over Q2 of 2010, and, well, net income was up 745 percent (no, I didn’t forget a decimal in there), but that’s only because they got whacked by the IRS in Q2 of 2010. So, here it’s more instructive to look at their non-GAAP numbers, and that still finds them up 30 percent in operating income, with an increasing margin. All good things.
Dialing down into those areas where 3D data capture comes into play, they put survey and mobile mapping/scanning in “Engineering and Construction” (“Mobile Solutions” and “Field Solutions” have some of the GNSS and handheld devices in them that touch on GIS and affect the accuracy and geo-reference of scanners, but aren’t really their laser stuff) and that segment was singled out by Steven Berglund, Trimble CEO, as having “strong performance.” The segment was up 26 percent in revenue.
Overall, though, we’re talking about 58 percent of Trimble’s total revenue here, and it’s hard to argue that scanning equipment is a large part of that, so it’s hard to say how the scanning portion of the business is doing. What you can say, though, is that a company that depends on construction for revenue is on the upward swing, so engineering and construction business as a whole is likely getting stronger.
The Advanced Devices segment, which is just a small percentage of Trimble’s revenue (just $26.3 million of the overall $407 million for Q2), and is where the indoor mapping TIMMS system lives, was off by about a percent, but I don’t think there’s much instructive in that.
Next up is short-range 3D manufacturer and service-provider Creaform, which continues to grow nicely. They announced $9.6 million in Q2 revenue, which is a 63 percent YoY growth rate, including growth of 131 percent in EMEA.
From their press release: In terms of technology sales, the HandyPROBE arm-free CMM line-up stand out with 118% YOY, while our Handyscan 3D and MetraSCAN 3D scanners line-ups are also steadily increasing. The great performance of our 3D Engineering Services is worth mentioning too, with a strong 91% YOY growth.
I think it’s becoming clear that short-range scanning for reverse-engineering and product development is becoming relatively mainstream in a hurry.
Next is Dassault, which did an earnings call July 28, with relatively good things to report: Revenue as a whole is up 21 percent for the year, CATIA is up 26 percent; they’re seeing strong new license growth and renewal rate. They mentioned 3D a number of times, including the launch of a new 3DS online store. Further, they’re now sitting on nearly a billion euros in cash, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them in the acquisition game again relatively soon.
They’re also pretty excited about their collaboration with Amazon for cloud-based design capabilities, which is actually a pretty big deal that I’m going to need to explore a bit more.
Regardless, good quarter for Dassault.
Finally, we’ve got FARO, which just put out results yesterday. They’re also in a good mood. Sales are up 30.6 percent YoY. Net income is up to $4.2 million for the quarter, from $1.8 million last year. And new order bookings are up 42 percent, with 57 percent growth in the Americas.
And what’s the one product segment the Jay Freeland mentions in the press release? Yep, laser scanners:
“We’re seeing solid revenue growth in all product lines, and the Focus Laser Scanner continues to exceed our expectations.”
So, why is FARO down almost $4.30 today (as of 4:48 eastern)? Well, I guess the Dow being down 500 today could have some kind association…
I’ll poke around for some more 3D-related results and see if I can get more posted tomorrow.
