Oerlikon has completed a major strategic reset. With the Barmag divestment closed, the group is now focused on surface technologies and advanced materials—placing additive manufacturing inside a broader, more integrated industrial platform.
For AM investors, this changes how Oerlikon should be viewed. The attraction is not pure-play printer exposure. It is ownership of powders, coatings, application know-how and service infrastructure around high-value manufacturing processes.
What changed?
Oerlikon completed the Barmag sale in February 2026.
2025 order intake increased 6.5% at constant FX.
Aviation and energy supported sales while weaker industrial end markets lagged.
Management expects low-single-digit organic growth in 2026 and an operational EBITDA margin around 17.5%.
Oerlikon Metco expanded direct access to its MetcoMed medical-grade L-PBF powders.
AM is part of the materials moat
Oerlikon’s strongest AM position is not simply machine ownership. The company controls high-performance powder portfolios, application engineering and a global surface-solutions network. That can matter in medical, aerospace and energy applications where qualification and material consistency create switching costs.
The MetcoMed portfolio illustrates the strategy: certified-quality titanium and cobalt alloys sold into orthopedic and dental production rather than generic commodity powder markets.
Why focus could improve returns
The Barmag divestment removes a large unrelated activity and should make capital allocation easier to judge. If management directs more resources toward advanced materials, aerospace and medical applications, additive manufacturing can benefit without needing to become a standalone growth segment.
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Nikon’s additive-manufacturing strategy is moving beyond selling large metal printers. Through Nikon SLM Solutions and Nikon AM Synergy, the company is positioning itself inside space and defense production programs where large-format metal parts remain a bottleneck.
The strategic question is whether large-format L-PBF can finally move from impressive demonstrations into repeat production at a scale that changes industry economics.
What changed?
Nikon AM Synergy won a Defense Innovation Unit contract through the FORGE program to reduce aeronautical component bottlenecks.
Nikon is developing large-format AM applications for rocket components.
Nikon SLM Solutions entered a strategic partnership with ArianeGroup for ultra-large-scale AM.
Rocket Lab signed a memorandum of understanding to reserve multiple upcoming ultra-large-format Nikon systems.
Nikon’s large-format NXG XII 600 platform is increasingly central to defense, space and high-performance industrial applications.
Why defense matters
Defense programs face a familiar bottleneck: complex castings and forgings have long lead times, concentrated suppliers and expensive tooling. Large-format metal AM can potentially replace some of those constraints with digitally qualified production cells.
The DIU contract is important because it targets exactly that problem—boosting capacity for high-performance aeronautical components. The strongest outcome would be a repeatable qualification pathway that turns AM into an alternate production source rather than an emergency prototype tool.
Space demand is becoming a second anchor
Rocket engines, turbomachinery and structural components reward design consolidation and low tooling requirements. Nikon’s partnerships with ArianeGroup and Rocket Lab suggest that customers are considering large-format AM as part of future production architecture, not only R&D.
The business-model evolution
Machine sales remain important, but Nikon AM Synergy adds engineering, qualification, materials development and manufacturing services. That can increase customer stickiness and create a pathway from proof of concept to production.
If successful, Nikon’s moat may be less about laser count and more about owning a qualified manufacturing ecosystem around large-format metal AM.
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Prodways is beginning to look like a simpler company. After selling its Software business and narrowing the perimeter, Q2 2026 revenue grew 5% on a comparable basis.
The key question is whether this marks the beginning of a healthier growth cycle or only a temporary rebound after restructuring.
What changed?
Q2 2026 revenue grew 5% on a comparable basis.
Q1 comparable revenue was approximately €11 million.
The Software business sale was completed in May.
Management has been simplifying the portfolio and improving current EBITDA margin.
The company also launched a public share buyback offer, reflecting a broader capital-allocation reset.
Why the portfolio reset matters
Prodways historically combined printers, materials, digital manufacturing and software. That breadth created strategic optionality, but it also made the earnings story harder to read. Selling Software reduces complexity and puts more focus on industrial 3D printing and production applications.
A smaller portfolio can be a better business if management concentrates capital on segments with higher utilization, better recurring materials revenue and clearer customer economics.
Growth quality matters more than headline growth
Five percent comparable growth is encouraging, but investors should distinguish recurring production demand from one-off machine deliveries. The strongest version of the thesis is a model in which installed printers pull through materials and service revenue while digital manufacturing activity provides recurring production volume.
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IperionX is no longer only a titanium technology story. Its Virginia campus is running around the clock, powder output is rising, downstream powder-metallurgy equipment is being commissioned and U.S. defense programs are funding expansion into titanium plate and components.
The investment question has changed. The key risk is no longer whether IperionX can build a domestic titanium process. It is whether the company can convert an increasingly complete scrap-to-powder-to-part chain into qualified, repeatable production at attractive economics.
What changed?
Virginia operations moved to a 24/7 production schedule during Q1 2026.
HAMR titanium powder output reached about 4.2 metric tons in March, equivalent to roughly 50 tpa annualized.
IperionX is targeting about 200 tpa of titanium powder capacity by the end of 2026.
A six-axis 300-ton SACMI powder-metallurgy press was installed to support more complex and higher-rate titanium components.
Additional sintering furnaces are intended to remove a downstream production bottleneck.
In July, IperionX received an award of up to US$6.6 million to scale titanium plate and large-format defense components.
The company also received an additional U.S. Army order for titanium fasteners for the JLTV platform.
The bottleneck is shifting downstream
Producing titanium powder is only the first step. The higher-value opportunity is converting powder into qualified parts that replace imported or supply-constrained conventional titanium products.
IperionX’s current build-out is therefore strategically important because presses, sintering furnaces and finishing capability can move the company closer to finished components. If successful, the company can capture more value per kilogram and reduce customer dependence on legacy Kroll-based titanium supply chains.
Defense support is becoming more concrete
The latest U.S. award supports ballistic-grade titanium plate and large-format military products. That is more meaningful than generic critical-minerals support because the funding is tied to specific manufacturing capability and transition pathways.
Still, government awards are not the same as commercial scale. Investors should watch actual customer qualification, task orders, shipped volumes and production utilization.
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Titomic is accumulating credible cold-spray adoption signals across aerospace repair, allied defense research, U.S. military sustainment and space evaluation. The challenge is no longer proving that the technology has applications. It is proving that those applications can become a scalable and financially efficient business.
During 2026, Titomic secured a repeat order from Lufthansa Technik, sold a multi-pressure cold-spray package to Royal NLR, signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA and established a multi-year research framework with a U.S. military organization.
These are stronger signals than isolated demonstrations because several involve repeat customers, paid equipment purchases and institutional pathways into defense and aerospace programs. However, Titomic remains an early-stage company with a cost base far larger than current revenue.
Addithive verdict
Thesis status: Commercial validation is improving; financial scalability remains unproven.
Titomic is building a differentiated position in repair, coatings and defense manufacturing. The next proof points are repeat production revenue, higher system utilization, improving gross margin and a narrowing operating cash deficit.
What changed?
Lufthansa Technik ordered additional cold-spray capability worth more than A$1.2 million.
The Lufthansa relationship has now been operating for approximately five years, making this a repeat-capacity order rather than a first trial.
Royal NLR ordered low-, medium- and high-pressure cold-spray systems for €1.02 million.
Titomic signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for testing and evaluation of cold-spray components.
Titomic USA signed a multi-year CRADA with a U.S. military research organization covering defense modernization, sustainment and materials development.
An existing US$1.7 million defense-prime development contract is intended to validate manufacturing pathways for next-generation defense articles.
The six months to December 2025 produced A$4.0 million of customer revenue, while the company remained deeply loss-making.
Cash was A$35.8 million at December 2025 following the earlier A$50 million capital raise.
Why the Lufthansa order matters
Repeat orders are among the most useful adoption signals in additive manufacturing. Lufthansa Technik has used Titomic technology for aircraft-part repair for several years and is now expanding that capability at its Hamburg facility.
This suggests that cold spray has progressed beyond technical evaluation into an established maintenance workflow. Repair is especially attractive because it can restore high-value components without the thermal distortion associated with welding or melt-based additive processes.
The commercial value will depend on whether similar maintenance organizations adopt the same workflow and whether Titomic can generate recurring service, consumables and system-upgrade revenue from the installed base.
Royal NLR expands the allied aerospace pathway
Royal NLR’s order covers low-, medium- and high-pressure systems. That breadth allows the Dutch aerospace research center to evaluate repair, coatings and additive-manufacturing applications across a wider range of materials and component requirements.
The order improves Titomic’s position inside the European aerospace and defense ecosystem, but research-center adoption is not the same as production-scale demand. The key follow-through would be customer programs that move from application development into certified fleet or defense use.
NASA and the U.S. military create pathways—not guaranteed revenue
The NASA Space Act Agreement and military CRADA are strategically valuable because they create formal channels for testing, information exchange and joint development.
They should not be treated as firm production contracts. Their economic value depends on whether evaluations generate funded programs, qualification milestones and repeat manufacturing or sustainment work.
The strongest near-term evidence remains Titomic’s paid defense-prime development contract. If that work progresses from manufacturing development into low-rate initial production, it would mark a more meaningful transition toward recurring defense revenue.
Cold spray may be strongest in repair and sustainment
Titomic’s technology is often discussed as an additive-manufacturing platform, but its most commercially immediate applications may be coatings, corrosion protection and repair.
These markets already have urgent operational problems: aging fleets, long replacement lead times, material degradation and limited spare-part availability. Cold spray can deposit material without melting the substrate, making it useful where heat input would damage the component.
That focus could shorten commercialization timelines compared with entirely new structural components, which usually require longer qualification cycles.
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Freemelt is accumulating the kind of customer signals that matter in advanced manufacturing: repeat machine orders, industrial deployments, defense projects and paid fusion-development work. The commercial story is strengthening—but the economics remain far from proven.
In 2025, Freemelt nearly tripled revenue and expanded its installed base to 40 systems. In 2026, it added orders from Jiuli, Intalus and TAE Technologies, while deepening its position in fusion, defense and critical materials.
The company is moving from a research-machine vendor toward an industrial E-PBF platform. The central question is whether those projects can convert into repeatable machine deliveries, recurring aftermarket revenue and a credible path to profitability.
Freemelt has credible exposure to tungsten, fusion, defense and medtech. The remaining proof points are industrial utilization, repeat eMELT orders, recurring revenue and a narrowing gap between sales growth and operating losses.
What changed?
2025 net sales increased 172% to SEK 54.5 million.
The installed base grew to 40 machines.
Q1 2026 sales increased 116% year over year to SEK 6.3 million.
Freemelt ended Q1 with seven active customer projects and a SEK 12.8 million order book.
Intalus ordered two eMELT systems for approximately SEK 12 million, with options for at least two additional machines.
Jiuli placed an additional eMELT order following the first Asian industrial-machine installation.
TAE Technologies awarded Freemelt a tungsten feasibility-study order for fusion applications.
Freemelt joined Proxima Fusion’s Alpha Alliance through a memorandum of understanding.
Vinnova granted funding for projects with Saab Dynamics and Hitachi Energy.
Why the Intalus order matters
The Intalus order includes two eMELT machines, with delivery of the first system planned for late Q3 2026 and options for at least two more.
Intalus initially plans to use the systems for titanium-based medtech development, followed by potential work with refractory metals such as tungsten. The stated objective is a transition from application development toward serial additive manufacturing.
The order is important because it links the industrial eMELT platform to a customer roadmap rather than a one-off research purchase. The options for additional systems create a visible scaling path, although options should not be treated as firm revenue until exercised.
Jiuli provides the first repeat-order signal in Asia
Freemelt entered China through a strategic collaboration with Jiuli and delivered its first eMELT system during 2025. Jiuli’s additional machine order in June 2026 is therefore more meaningful than a first installation.
A repeat order suggests that the customer sees enough value in the platform to expand capacity. It also supports Freemelt’s claim that its open E-PBF architecture can be transferred into industrial materials and production-development workflows.
The next evidence threshold is utilization: whether the installed systems generate recurring projects, additional machines and aftermarket demand.
Fusion is strategically attractive—but commercially distant
Freemelt’s technology is particularly relevant to tungsten, one of the most difficult but strategically important materials in fusion energy. Tungsten’s heat resistance makes it a candidate for plasma-facing components, but its high melting point and brittleness make conventional processing and additive manufacturing difficult.
Freemelt is now working with UKAEA, TAE Technologies, Proxima Fusion and other fusion organizations. These engagements increase technical credibility and place the company inside emerging supply chains.
However, most fusion programs are still development-stage markets. Feasibility studies, memoranda and alliance memberships are not equivalent to serial-production revenue. The fusion thesis becomes financially meaningful only when customers move into qualified hardware programs and repeat procurement.
Defense and critical materials may convert faster
Freemelt has received follow-on work from a leading Swedish defense company and is participating in Vinnova-funded projects with Saab Dynamics and Hitachi Energy.
Defense applications may offer a nearer-term route to commercialization than fusion because customers already face material shortages, sovereign-supply requirements and demand for high-performance components. Yet the same caution applies: prototype and development work must progress into qualified production.
Sales growth has not yet solved the cost structure
Freemelt’s 2025 revenue growth was impressive, but the company remained deeply loss-making. In Q1 2026, sales were SEK 6.3 million while the operating loss was SEK 26.5 million.
This gap shows why order announcements alone are insufficient. Freemelt must scale revenue faster than engineering, commercial and corporate costs. Outsourced machine production through Scanfil may support a more capital-light model, but the company still needs enough volume and aftermarket revenue to absorb its fixed cost base.
The company’s long-term goal includes a meaningful contribution from service, maintenance and other recurring revenue. That mix shift would improve quality of earnings, but it depends on a much larger and actively used installed base.
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