Head to Head Survey: Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) versus 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD)

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Intuit and 3D Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intuit	0	4	14	0	2.78
3D Systems	0	2	2	0	2.50

Intuit presently has a consensus target price of $735.71, suggesting a potential upside of 21.35%. 3D Systems has a consensus target price of $3.25, suggesting a potential upside of 21.72%. Given 3D Systems’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe 3D Systems is more favorable than Intuit.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Intuit and 3D Systems”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuit	$16.29 billion	10.41	$2.96 billion	$10.84	55.93
3D Systems	$488.07 million	0.73	-$363.17 million	($2.84)	-0.94

Intuit has higher revenue and earnings than 3D Systems. 3D Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuit, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.7% of Intuit shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.5% of 3D Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Intuit shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of 3D Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Intuit has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 3D Systems has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Intuit and 3D Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intuit	18.19%	18.64%	10.87%
3D Systems	-78.14%	-15.29%	-7.21%

Summary

Intuit beats 3D Systems on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intuit

Intuit Inc. provides financial management and compliance products and services for consumers, small businesses, self-employed, and accounting professionals in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Small Business & Self-Employed, Consumer, Credit Karma, and ProTax. The Small Business & Self-Employed segment provides QuickBooks services, that includes financial and business management online services and desktop software, payroll solutions, time tracking, merchant payment processing solutions, and financing for small businesses; and Mailchimp services, such as e-commerce, marketing automation, and customer relationship management. This segment also offers QuickBooks online services and desktop software solutions comprising QuickBooks Online Advanced, a cloud-based solution; QuickBooks Enterprise, a hosted solution; and QuickBooks Self-Employed solution; payment-processing solutions, including credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and ACH payment services; and financial supplies and financing for small businesses, as well as electronic filing of federal and state income tax returns. The Consumer segment provides TurboTax income tax preparation products and services. The Credit Karma segment offers consumers with a personal finance platform that provides personalized recommendations of home, auto, and personal loans, as well as credit cards and insurance products. The ProTax segment provides Lacerte, ProSeries, and ProFile desktop tax-preparation software products; and ProConnect Tax Online tax products, electronic tax filing service, and bank products and related services. It sells products and services through various sales and distribution channels, including multi-channel shop-and-buy experiences, websites and call centers, mobile application stores, and retail and other channels. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

About 3D Systems

3D Systems Corporation provides 3D printing and digital manufacturing solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company offers 3D printers technologies, such as stereolithography, selective laser sintering, direct metal printing, multi jet printing, color jet printing, polymer extrusion, and extrusion and SLA based bioprinting that transform digital data input generated by 3D design software, computer aided design (CAD) software, or other 3D design tools into printed parts. It also develops, blends, and markets various print materials, such as plastic, nylon, metal, composite, elastomeric, wax, polymeric dental materials, and biocompatible materials. In addition, the company provides digital design tools, including software, scanners, and haptic devices, as well as solutions for product design, simulation, mold and die design, 3D scan-to-print, reverse engineering, production machining, metrology, and inspection and manufacturing workflows under the Geomagic brand. Further, it offers 3D Sprint and 3DXpert, a proprietary software to prepare and optimize CAD data and manage the additive manufacturing processes, which provides automated support building and placement, build platform management, print simulation, and print queue management; and Bioprint Pro, a software solution that allows researchers to design and bioprint repeatable experiments. Additionally, the company provides maintenance and training services; manufacturing services; and software and precision healthcare services. It primarily serves companies and small and midsize businesses in medical, dental, automotive, aerospace, durable goods, government, defense, technology, jewelry, electronic, education, consumer goods, energy, biotechnology, and other industries through direct sales force, channel partners, and appointed distributors. 3D Systems Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina.