3-D Printed Homes Could Be the Newest Craze – 3 Stocks Set to Benefit

The current macroeconomic environment has been less than kind to the housing sector. Demand was already reeling from decades-high inflation, and efforts to contain it have only ended up compounding the misery. In little over a year, the Federal Reserve approved its tenth interest-rate hike to take the Fed funds rate to a target range of 5%-5.25%.

With increasing borrowing costs, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) inched up to 6.91% by the end of May. With consumer debt surpassing $17 trillion during the first quarter of the year to hit a fresh all-time high, mortgage demand dropped to its lowest levels in three months and was accompanied by a decline in existing home sales.

Hence, it is unsurprising that between June 2022 and the end of the previous year, U.S. homeowners have lost $2.3 trillion since June, according to a new report from the real-estate brokerage Redfin.

With non-farm payrolls and private payrolls surpassing expectations to increase by 339,000 and 278,000, respectively, in May to signal persistent tightness in the labor market in a resilient economy, there are doubts about whether the Fed and major central banks around the world would be willing to pause or pivot their monetary stance.

While mortgage rates are expected to keep rising and weighing on the demand for available homes, there are between 1.5 million and 6 million fewer homes in the U.S. than there are households ready to occupy them, which is contributing to housing inflation and rent hikes. With the number of housing units per 1000 people declining over the past decade, the country is undeniably in the middle of surging homelessness.

As a result, the imperative to construct homes cheaper and faster despite labor shortages in construction jobs has been driving the fledgling but exponentially growing practice of 3-D printing them.

The technology, which dates back to the 1980s, uses computer-generated designs to create objects with a nozzle at the end of a robotic arm to extrude layer-upon layer of concrete or other materials like a soft-serve ice cream machine. In the case of 3-D printed homes, the pipe is attached to scaffolding and programmed to move in a specified shape.

3D printing uses recycled materials and uses only as much as is needed without trimming or subtracting excess materials. As a result, this additive manufacturing technique is more eco-friendly and cuts waste by 60%, thereby contributing to a circular economy without sending unused wood, concrete, or glass for window panes to landfills.

3-D printing promises to be an effective workaround to the ongoing labor shortage in the construction industry. While the machine is printing, it requires little supervision or staff on the site, which replaces on-site carpenters wielding hammers and nail guns, prevents injuries, and saves costs on workers’ compensation.

A 2018 study in the academic research publication IOP Science: Materials Science and Engineering, based in the U.K., argues that 3D printing can cut costs by at least 35%.

3-D printed homes are also suitable for effective protection against natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. In September 2022, the New York Times reported that a series of 3D-printed homes in Nacajuca, Mexico, have tolerated extreme conditions, including a 7.4-magnitude earthquake.
As a result, proponents see promise in 3D-printed homes providing homeless housing, accessory dwelling units, and rapid reconstruction in disaster zones, such as Ukraine.

Moreover, with the capability of producing complex shapes that can’t be otherwise produced during conventional construction, improvement in aesthetics and mass-customization make 3-D printed homes an architect’s delight. Although printing out a multi-story house is slightly more complicated, there are successful examples, including a 3D-printed apartment building in Germany.

Although the jury is still out on which system is comparatively superior, homebuilders use both on-site (which extrude recycled construction materials to build corduroy-patterned concrete walls right at the building site) and factory-based 3D printers to manufacture homes.

While builders in the United States have been experimenting with 3D printing for several years, a 100-house community in Georgetown, Texas, might someday be looked back on as the place which changed mass housing forever.

Lennar Corporation (LEN), the nation’s second-biggest homebuilder and construction technologies firm ICON, announced in November 2022 that they have begun construction on the 100-home Wolf Ranch development in Georgetown, Texas, with sales scheduled to begin on June 10.
According to the homebuilder's website, starting prices for three- and four-bedroom homes range from $476,000 to $566,000. Homes will range from 1,600 to 2,000 square feet.
According to ICON's CEO Jason Ballard, 3-D printed homes, whose construction costs are expected to keep declining with increasing scale, have “better design, higher strength, higher energy performance and comfort, and increased resiliency.”

If Chris Murphy, chief strategy officer for Oakland-based Mighty Buildings, is to be believed, “There is no way in 10 years we’ll be able to be building like we are today. Even if we didn’t have a massive shortage on the supply side, which we do, we don’t have the labor to continue building as we would want to today, and we have an environmental crisis.”

Given the potential of this technology, the increasing interest is evident from the fact the construction with 3D printers was one of several housing innovations on display during the Pacific Coast Builders Conference held last month in Anaheim.

Given the high growth rate and low penetration, the technology has a long runway ahead as it seeks to transform housing across the world and even beyond it, one layer at a time. Below are a few other stocks that could provide exposure to investors keen to make a long-term bet on this technology.

Stratasys, Ltd. (SSYS)

SSYS offers connected, polymer-based 3D printing systems, related services, consumables, and additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, mainly in Israel, the United States, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan. The company’s offerings include 3D printers, materials, software, expert services, and on-demand parts production.

Amid unsolicited interests and advances from Nano Dimension Ltd. and 3D Systems Corporation (DDD), on May 25, SSYS announced its entry into a definitive agreement with Desktop Metal, Inc. (DM) whereby the companies will combine in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion.
By combining the polymer strengths of SSYS with the complementary industrial mass production leadership of DM, the combined entity post-merger is expected to generate $1.1 billion in 2025 revenue, with significant upside potential in a total addressable market of more than $100 billion by 2032.

Proto Labs, Inc. (PRLB)

PRLB digitally manufactures custom prototypes and on-demand production parts, primarily from commercial-grade plastic, metal, and liquid silicone rubber. With a digital model that supports the transition from prototyping to production, the company can support developers and engineers effectively.

Materialise NV (MTLS)

Headquartered in Belgium, MTLS provides software and three-dimensional (3D) printing services. Through quality, reliability, and repeatability, which form the backbone of the 3D printing industry, the company serves and transforms businesses worldwide, including Colombia, Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, China, Japan, Austria, Poland, Germany, and France.

Earnings Calendar For May 2022

There are over 2,700 companies scheduled to report quarterly earnings in May. That means potentially thousands of earnings-related price swings!

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Most Anticipated Earnings For May 2022

Below are some of the most anticipated earnings announcements for May (click to download a printable PDF).

May 2022 Earnings Calendar

May 2 (≈150 announcements)

Agile Therapeutics (AGRX)
Clorox Co (CLX)
Park Hotels & Resorts (PK)
Otter Tail Corp (OTTR)
Spirit Airlines (SAVE)

May 3 (≈300 announcements)

Coca Cola (COKE)
Biogen Inc (BIIB)
Cummings Inc (CMI)
Public Storage (PSA)
Leidos Holdings (LDOS) Continue reading "Earnings Calendar For May 2022"

In Lieu of Our Holiday Party

Updated: December 29, 2020

Congrats to Our Selected Charity - 180 Degrees Inc. (Saint Paul, MN)

This organization was suggested by our visitor, Matthew.

180 Degrees' mission is to support individuals and families to overcome barriers, transform lives, and contribute to healthy, multicultural communities. We have proudly donated $500 to 180 Degrees in Matthew's honor.

Learn More About 180 Degrees


2020 was a challenging year for everyone.

It's probably the most overused sentence of the year, but it's true. It was a year of distance and division, uncertainty, and isolation.

All things considered, the team at INO.com feels incredibly blessed this year thanks to the wonderful INO.com community and our MarketClub members.

While we had hoped to host our annual holiday party for our team and their families, our staff agreed that people in our community needed our help.

In place of our holiday party, INO.com happily provided meals to food-insecure families through donations to the South County Area Network, MAC House in Moorefield, Wardensville Food Pantry, and the Lost River Ministerial Food Pantry.

President of INO.com, David Maher, personally presented the Mac House with our donation. The coordinator of the Moorefield food efforts said, "Wow, that’s wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! This community is blessed by its giving and caring people. Very generous of you especially in this difficult time."

Truck full of food donation for charity
David Maher Presents Donation to MAC House in Moorefield
Food stacked up to be donated

While we have made donations like this before through our INO Cares initiative, we know that so many more people need help this year. Continue reading "In Lieu of Our Holiday Party"

INO Cares - WV Flood Relief

This past week has been crazy! The news has been dominated by Brexit, the house sit-in, and the ever entertaining presidential campaign. There was also tremendous tragedy in West Virginia as devastating floods took lives and destroyed homes. A few members of our staff live in this wild and wonderful state. Although they are safe, many of their state's residents are suffering great losses.

We have donated to the flood relief efforts as part of our INO Cares campaign. We hope that our contribution will be used to provide both material and emotional comfort for the flood victims.

If you have it in your hearts to contribute to the West Virginia Flood Relief, there are many ways to do so. Below you will find a few organizations that are trying to make a difference for this broken community.

Red Cross
United Methodist Foundation of WV (Memo: Flood)

I hope you'll keep following along as we try to make the world just a little bit better with random acts of kindness.

Best,
Lindsay Bittinger
INO.com, Inc.

Valentine's Day - Sending Love + Water To Flint


What a great time of year to dish out some more INO love!

Clean, potable water has always been a global issue, but rarely is it something we hear about in our own backyard. The folks of Flint, Michigan have been dealing with toxic water since a source switch in 2014. Being able to purchase potable water is not an easy task for some. To help with a temporary solution to this major problem, organizations have been established to collect water donations and transport them to Flint for distribution.

Maryland resident and Flint, Michigan native, Ron Lee, wanted to help his hometown. Ron teamed up with "Well of Hope" to help collect, transport and distribute water donations. He and his family drove a giant moving truck filled with water all the way to Flint early Saturday morning. They will hand-deliver this much-needed​ resource to this area in great need.

We managed to get our water donation on the truck right before they left! Ron was grateful and assured us that our gift of love will be given directly to many Flint residents who are in dire need.

Learn more about Well of Hope and their ongoing efforts to help the citizens of Flint, Michigan.

Best,
Lindsay Bittinger
INO.com, Inc.