Proto Labs Inc - Quarter Report: 2022 September (Form 10-Q)

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 1 – Basis of Presentation

The unaudited interim Consolidated Financial Statements of Proto Labs, Inc. (Protolabs, the Company, we, us or our) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, the accompanying financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s statements of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. Except as otherwise disclosed herein, these adjustments consist of normal, recurring items. Operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the fiscal year as a whole.

The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and the related disclosures at the date of the financial statements and during the reporting period. Actual results could materially differ from these estimates. For further information, refer to the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended  December 31, 2021, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 18, 2022.

The accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2021 was derived from the audited Consolidated Financial Statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for a full set of financial statements. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 18, 2022 as referenced above.

On May 27, 2022, the Company's board of directors approved a plan for the closure of the Company's manufacturing facility in Japan and announced an intention to cease operations in the region. Affected employees in Japan will receive severance and other transition assistance that meet or exceed local requirements. The Company expects to substantially complete the closure plan within the next year. The Company's decision to close the Japan business resulted in $1.2 million and $6.4 million in operating expenses during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. Operating expenses included $0.1 million of employee severance and $1.1 million related to the write-down of fixed assets for the three months ended September 30, 2022.  Operating expenses included $2.3 million of employee severance, $2.3 million related to the write-down of fixed assets, $0.9 million of facility-related charges, $0.6 million in goodwill impairment charges and $0.3 million in other closure related charges for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. 

Note 2 – Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Company did not recently adopt any accounting pronouncements that had a material impact on the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements.  There are no pending accounting pronouncements that are expected to have a material impact on the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements.

Note 3 – Net Income per Common Share

Basic net income per share is computed based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted net income per share is computed based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, increased by the number of additional shares that would have been outstanding had potentially dilutive common shares been issued and reduced by the number of shares the Company could have repurchased from the proceeds from issuance of the potentially dilutive shares. Potentially dilutive shares of common stock include stock options and other stock-based awards granted under stock-based compensation plans and shares committed to be purchased under the employee stock purchase plan. Performance stock units are excluded from the calculation of dilutive potential common shares until the performance conditions have been satisfied. For the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, 210,443 and 184,920 anti-dilutive options were excluded from the calculation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, 202,901 and 61,400 anti-dilutive options were excluded from the calculation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding, respectively.

The table below sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net income per share:

Note 4 – Business Combinations

On  January 22, 2021, the Company acquired all of the outstanding shares of 3D Hubs, Inc. (Hubs), for $294.1 million, consisting of $127.4 million in cash and 863,995 shares of the Company's common stock valued at $166.7 million on the closing date. The purchase agreement included additional contingent consideration of up to $52.8 million subject to the achievement of performance-based targets during fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022. The contingent consideration consisted of up to $25.0 million in cash and up to 143,983 shares of the Company's common stock valued at $27.8 million on the closing date. 

Hubs is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is a leading online manufacturing platform that provides customers with on-demand access to a global network of premium manufacturing partners. The acquisition enhances the Company’s value proposition by expanding the customer offerings, enabling the Company to more holistically serve its customers.

The fair value of the consideration paid for this acquisition has been allocated to the assets purchased and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the acquisition date, with any excess recorded as goodwill.  The goodwill associated with the acquisition represents both the strategic and growth opportunities by significantly expanding the customer offering with a network of premium manufacturing partners. The goodwill related to the acquisition is not deductible for tax purposes. 

The acquisition has been accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations. The final purchase price allocation was as follows:

Note 5 – Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 were as follows:

Goodwill of $0.6 million was written off as of  September 30, 2022, as a result of the Company's decision to close the Japan manufacturing facility and exit the Japan market. The Japan business was in operations through the third quarter of 2022 and the assets are expected to be available for sale in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Euro denominated goodwill is translated at the end of each period using the current exchange rates resulting in a foreign currency translation adjustment that is recorded as a component of Other Comprehensive Income.

Intangible assets other than goodwill at  September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 were as follows:

Intangible assets have been allocated to the acquired Hubs entities consisting of intangible assets of €11.6 million in Europe and $16.6 million in the United States as of the date of the acquisition. The Euro denominated intangible assets are translated at the end of each period using the current exchange rates resulting in a foreign currency translation adjustment that is recorded as a component of Other Comprehensive Income. Foreign currency losses related to intangible assets were $2.8 million and $0.9 million as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. Amortization expense for intangible assets was $1.5 million and $1.6 million for the three months ended  September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $4.6 million in each of the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

Estimated aggregated amortization expense based on the current carrying value of the amortizable intangible assets and current exchange rates is as follows:

 Note 6 – Assets Held for Sale

Assets are classified as held for sale and presented separately on the Consolidated Balance Sheet when all of the following criteria for a plan of sale have been met: (1) management, having the authority to approve the action, commits to a plan to sell the assets; (2) the assets are available for immediate sale, in their present condition, subject only to terms that are usual and customary for sales of such assets; (3) an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan to sell the assets have been initiated; (4) the sale of the assets is probable and is expected to be completed within one year; (5) the assets are being actively marketed for a price that is reasonable in relation to their current fair value; and (6) actions required to complete the plan indicate that it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or the plan will be withdrawn. The assets are then recorded at the lower of their current carrying value or the fair market value, less costs to sell.

During the first quarter of 2022, a facility the Company owns in Maple Plain, Minnesota, encompassing approximately 35,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space, met the criteria to be held for sale. The assets held for sale were $2.0 million as of June 30, 2022 and were presented on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet as Long-term assets held for sale. The Company closed on the sale of the facility in the third quarter of 2022 for a net purchase price of $3.2 million, which resulted in a gain of $1.2 million recorded in general and administrative expense on the Company's Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Note 7 – Fair Value Measurements

Accounting Standards Codification, Fair Value Measurement (ASC 820), defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy that requires classification based on observable and unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2—Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The Company's assets and liabilities that are required to be measured or disclosed at fair value on a recurring basis include cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities. The Company’s cash consists of bank deposits and cash equivalents consist primarily of money market mutual funds. The Company determines the fair value of these investments using Level 1 inputs. The Company's marketable securities consist of short-term and long-term agency, municipal, corporate and other debt securities. Fair value for the corporate debt securities is primarily determined based on quoted market prices (Level 1). Fair values for the U.S. municipal securities, U.S. government agency securities, certificates of deposit and U.S. treasury securities are primarily determined using dealer quotes or quoted market prices for similar securities (Level 2).

The following table summarizes financial assets as of  September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 measured at fair value on a recurring basis: 

Note 8 – Marketable Securities

The Company invests in short-term and long-term agency, municipal, corporate and other debt securities. The securities are categorized as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value. The following table summarizes information regarding the Company’s short-term and long-term marketable securities as of  September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021:

Fair values for the corporate debt securities are primarily determined based on quoted market prices (Level 1). Fair values for the U.S. municipal securities, U.S. government agency securities, certificates of deposit and U.S. treasury securities are primarily determined using dealer quotes or quoted market prices for similar securities (Level 2).

Classification of marketable securities as current or non-current is based upon the security’s maturity date as of the date of these financial statements.

The  September 30, 2022 balance of available-for-sale debt securities by contractual maturity is shown in the following table at fair value. Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because the issuers of the securities may have the right to prepay obligations without prepayment penalties.

Note 9 – Inventory

Inventory consists primarily of raw materials, which are recorded at the lower of cost and net realizable value using the standard cost method, which approximates first-in, first-out (FIFO) cost. The Company periodically reviews its inventory for slow-moving, damaged and discontinued items and provides allowances to reduce such items identified to their recoverable amounts.

The Company’s inventory consisted of the following as of the dates indicated:

Note 10 – Stock-Based Compensation

Under the Company’s 2012 Long-Term Incentive Plan, as amended (the 2012 Plan), the Company had the ability to grant stock options, stock appreciation rights (SARs), restricted stock, restricted stock units, other stock-based awards and cash incentive awards through February 23, 2022. On July 8, 2022, the board of directors approved the Proto Labs, Inc. 2022 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the 2022 Plan), which was approved by the Company's shareholders at a Special Meeting of Shareholders on August 29, 2022. No awards were granted from February 23, 2022 to August 29, 2022. Awards outstanding under the 2012 Plan as of August 29, 2022 will continue to be subject to the terms of the 2012 Plan, but if those awards subsequently expire, are forfeited or cancelled or are settled in cash, the shares subject to those awards will become available for awards under the 2022 Plan. Under the 2022 Plan, the Company has the ability to grant stock options, stock appreciation rights (SARs), restricted stock, restricted stock units, other stock-based awards and cash incentive awards. Awards under the 2022 Plan have a maximum term of ten years from the date of grant. The compensation committee may provide that the vesting or payment of any award will be subject to the attainment of specified performance measures in addition to the satisfaction of any continued service requirements and the compensation committee will determine whether such measures have been achieved. The per-share exercise price of stock options and SARs granted under the 2022 Plan generally may not be less than the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the date of the grant.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The Company’s 2012 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) allows eligible employees to purchase a variable number of shares of the Company’s common stock each offering period at a discount through payroll deductions of up to 15 percent of their eligible compensation, subject to plan limitations. The ESPP provides for six-month offering periods with a single purchase period ending May 15 and November 15, respectively. At the end of each offering period, employees are able to purchase shares at 85 percent of the lower of the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or on the last trading day of the offering period.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

Stock-based compensation expense was $4.9 million and $5.0 million for the three months ended  September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $13.3 and $15.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Stock Options

The following table summarizes stock option activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2022:

The outstanding options generally have a term of ten years. For employees, options granted become exercisable ratably over the vesting period, which is generally a period of four years, beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date, subject to the employee’s continuing service to the Company. For the board of directors, options generally become exercisable in full on the first anniversary of the grant date.

The weighted-average grant date fair value of options that were granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was $23.11.

The following table provides the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes pricing model valuation of options during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:

As of September 30, 2022, there was $4.5 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock options, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.8 years.

Restricted Stock

Restricted stock awards are share-settled awards and restrictions lapse ratably over the vesting period, which is generally a period from three to four years, beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date, subject to the employee's continuing service to the Company. For the board of directors, restrictions generally lapse in full on the first anniversary of the grant date. 

The following table summarizes restricted stock activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2022:

As of September 30, 2022, there was $24.7 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.6 years. 

Performance Stock

Performance stock units (PSUs) are expressed in terms of a target number of PSUs, with anywhere between 0 percent and 200 percent of that target number capable of being earned and vesting at the end of a three-year performance period depending on the Company’s performance in the final year of the performance period and the award recipient’s continued employment. The Company’s PSUs granted from 2017 to 2019 and certain PSUs granted in 2021 are based on performance conditions and the related compensation cost is based on the probability that the performance conditions will be achieved. The Company’s PSUs granted in 2020 and 2022 and certain PSUs granted in 2021 are based on market conditions and the related compensation cost is based on the fair value at grant date calculated using a Monte Carlo pricing model.

The following table summarizes performance stock activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2022:

The following table provides the assumptions used in the Monte Carlo pricing model valuation of PSUs during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021: 

As of September 30, 2022, there was $2.8 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested performance stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.2 years. 

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The following table presents the assumptions used to estimate the fair value of the ESPP during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021: 

 Note 11 – Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

Other comprehensive income (loss) is comprised of foreign currency translation adjustments and net unrealized gains (losses) on investments in securities. The following table presents the changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) balances during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:

Note 12 – Income Taxes

The Company is subject to income tax in multiple jurisdictions and the use of estimates is required to determine the provision for income taxes. For the three months ended  September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $2.1 million and $2.2 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $7.2 million and $5.8 million, respectively. The income tax provision is based on the estimated annual effective tax rate for the year applied to pre-tax income. The effective income tax rate for the three months ended  September 30, 2022 was 34.5 percent compared to 31.5 percent in the same period of the prior year. The effective tax rate increased by 3.0 percent for the three months ended  September 30, 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to an increase in losses in jurisdictions, mainly Japan, that are not eligible for tax benefits due to valuation allowances. The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended  September 30, 2022 was 38.4 percent compared to 21.2 percent in the same period of the prior year. The effective tax rate increased by 17.2 percent for the nine months ended  September 30, 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to a decrease in tax benefits from the vesting of restricted stock and the exercise of stock options, as well as an increase in losses in jurisdictions, mainly Japan, that are not eligible for tax benefits due to valuation allowances. 

The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 differs from the U.S. federal statutory rate of 21.0 percent due to various factors, including operating in multiple state and foreign jurisdictions and tax credits for which the Company qualifies.

The Company had unrecognized tax benefits totaling $4.5 million as of September 30, 2022 and $4.4 million as of  December 31, 2021, respectively, that if recognized would result in a reduction of the Company’s effective tax rate. The liabilities are classified as other long-term liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense and reports the liability in current or long-term income taxes payable as appropriate. 

Note 13 – Segment Reporting

The Company’s reportable segments are based on the internal reporting used by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, who is the chief operating decision maker (CODM), to assess operating performance and make decisions about the allocation of resources. The Corporate Unallocated and Japan category includes non-reportable segments, as well as research and development and general and administrative costs, that the Company does not allocate directly to its operating segments.

Intercompany transactions primarily relate to intercontinental activity and have been eliminated and are excluded from the reported amounts. The difference between income from operations and pre-tax income relates to foreign currency-related gains and losses and interest income on cash balances and investments, which are not allocated to business segments. 

Revenue and income from operations by reportable segment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 were as follows:

Total long-lived assets at  September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 were as follows:

The Company's decision to close the Japan business resulted in operating expenses of $1.2 million and $6.4 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. Operating expenses included $0.1 million of employee severance and $1.1 million related to the write-down of fixed assets for the three months ended September 30, 2022. Operating expenses included $2.3 million of employee severance, $2.3 million related to the write-down of fixed assets, $0.9 million of facility-related charges, $0.6 million in goodwill impairment charges and $0.3 million in other closure related charges for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. 

Revenue by product line for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 were as follows:

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this report regarding matters that are not historical or current facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our results to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. Certain of these risk factors and others are described in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Form 10-Q, as well as our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on our future results. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, we expressly disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Overview

We are one of the world’s largest and fastest digital manufacturers of custom prototypes and on-demand production parts. Our mission is to empower companies to bring new ideas to market by offering the fastest and most comprehensive digital manufacturing service in the world. Our automated quoting and manufacturing systems allow us to produce commercial-grade plastic, metal, and liquid silicone rubber parts in as fast as one day. We manufacture prototype and low volume production parts for companies worldwide, who are under increasing pressure to bring their finished products to market faster than their competition. We utilize injection molding, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, 3D printing and sheet metal fabrication to manufacture custom parts for our customers. For most of our offerings, our proprietary technology eliminates most of the time-consuming and expensive skilled labor conventionally required to quote and manufacture parts. Our customers conduct nearly all of their business with us over the Internet. We target our products to the millions of product developers and engineers who use three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D CAD) software to design products across a diverse range of end-markets. In addition, we serve procurement and supply chain professionals seeking to manufacture custom parts on-demand. Through the acquisition of Hubs (formerly 3D Hubs, Inc.) (Hubs) in 2021, we are able to provide our customers access to a global network of premium manufacturing partners who reside across North America, Europe and Asia, complementing our in-house manufacturing. We believe our use of advanced technology enables us to offer significant advantages at competitive prices to many customers and is the primary reason we have become a leading supplier of custom parts.

On May 27, 2022, our board of directors approved a plan for the closure of our manufacturing facility in Japan and announced an intention to cease operations in the region. Affected employees in Japan will receive severance and other transition assistance that meet or exceed local requirements. We expect to substantially complete the closure plan within the next year. Our decision to close the Japan business resulted in operating expenses of $1.2 million and $6.4 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. Operating expenses included $0.1 million of employee severance and $1.1 million related to the write-down of fixed assets for the three months ended September 30, 2022.  Operating expenses included $2.3 million of employee severance, $2.3 million related to the write-down of fixed assets, $0.9 million of facility-related charges, $0.6 million in goodwill impairment charges and $0.3 million in other closure related charges for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.  

Our primary manufacturing product lines currently include Injection Molding, CNC Machining, 3D Printing and Sheet Metal. We continually seek to expand the range of sizes and geometric complexity of the parts we can make with these processes, to extend the variety of materials we are able to support, and to identify additional manufacturing processes to which we can apply our technology in order to better serve the evolving preferences and needs of product developers and engineers. In 2021, we augmented our internal manufacturing operations through our acquisition of Hubs to expand the envelope of custom parts we can provide to our customers through a network of premium manufacturing partners in each of our product lines.

Injection Molding

Our Injection Molding product line uses our 3D CAD-to-CNC machining technology for the automated design and manufacture of molds, which are then used to produce custom plastic and liquid silicone rubber injection-molded parts and over-molded and insert-molded injection-molded parts on commercially available equipment. Our Injection Molding product line works best for on-demand production, bridge tooling, pilot runs and functional prototyping. Our affordable molds and quick turnaround times help reduce design risk and limit overall production costs for product developers and engineers. Because we retain possession of the molds, customers who need short-run production often come back to Proto Labs’ Injection Molding product line for additional quantities. They do so to support pilot production for product testing, while their tooling for high-volume production is being prepared, because they need on-demand manufacturing due to disruptions in their manufacturing process, because their product requires limited annual quantity or because they need end-of-life production support. In 2017, we launched an on-demand manufacturing injection molding service. This service utilizes our existing processes, but is designed to fulfill the needs of customers with on-going production needs.

CNC Machining

Our CNC Machining product line uses commercially available CNC machines to offer milling and turning. CNC milling is a manufacturing process that cuts plastic and metal blocks into one or more custom parts based on the 3D CAD model uploaded by the customer. CNC turning is a subtractive manufacturing process that rotates a metal rod while a cutting tool is used to remove material and create final parts. Quick-turn CNC machining works best for prototyping, form and fit testing, jigs and fixtures and functional components for end-use applications.

Industrial 3D Printing

Our Industrial 3D Printing product line includes SL, SLS, DMLS, MJF, PolyJet, Carbon DLS and fused deposition modeling (FDM) processes, which offers customers a wide-variety of high-quality, precision rapid prototyping and low volume production. These processes create parts with a high level of accuracy, detail, strength and durability. Industrial 3D Printing is best suited for functional prototypes, complex designs and end-use applications.

Sheet Metal

Our Sheet Metal product line includes quick-turn and e-commerce-enabled custom sheet metal parts, providing customers with prototype and low-volume production parts. The rapid prototype sheet metal process is most often used when form, fit and function are all a priority. Our manufacturing process uses customer 3D CAD models uploaded by the customer to fabricate rapid prototyping sheet metal or end-use production parts and assemblies.

Key Financial Measures and Trends

Revenue

Our operations are comprised of three geographic operating segments in the United States, Europe and Japan. On May 27, 2022, our board of directors approved a plan for the closure of our manufacturing facility in Japan and announced an intention to cease operations in the region. Revenue is derived from our Injection Molding, CNC Machining, 3D Printing and Sheet Metal product lines. Injection Molding revenue consists of sales of custom injection molds and injection-molded parts. CNC Machining revenue consists of sales of CNC-machined custom parts. 3D Printing revenue consists of sales of 3D-printed parts. Sheet Metal revenue consists of sales of fabricated sheet metal custom parts. Our historical and current efforts to increase revenue have been directed at gaining new customers and selling to our existing customer base by increasing marketing and selling activities, including:

During the three months ended September 30, 2022, we served 23,816 unique product developers and engineers who purchased our products through our web-based customer interface, an increase of 1.5% over the same period in 2021. During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, we served 47,793 unique product developers and engineers who purchased our products through our web-based customer interface, an increase of 2.4% over the same period in 2021. 

Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Cost of revenue consists primarily of raw materials, equipment depreciation, employee compensation, benefits, stock-based compensation, facilities costs and overhead allocations associated with the manufacturing process for molds and customer parts. We expect our personnel-related costs to increase in order to retain and attract top talent and remain competitive in the market. Overall, we expect cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars.

We define gross profit as our revenue less our cost of revenue, and we define gross margin as gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit and gross margin are affected by many factors, including our mix of revenue by product line, pricing, sales volume, manufacturing costs, the costs associated with increasing production capacity, the mix between domestic and foreign revenue sources, the mix between revenue produced in our internal manufacturing operations and outsourced to our external manufacturing partners, and foreign currency exchange rates.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses consist of marketing and sales, research and development and general and administrative expenses. Personnel-related costs are the most significant component in each of these categories.

The launch of our Protolabs 2.0 project, an internal business systems initiative impacting both external customer-facing and internal back-end systems, in the United States in the first quarter of 2021, and our acquisition of Hubs in January 2021, led to higher operating expenses in the first nine months of 2021. Our business strategy is to continue to be a leading online and technology-enabled manufacturer of quick-turn, on-demand injection-molded, CNC-machined, 3D-printed and sheet metal custom parts for prototyping and low-volume production. In order to achieve our goals, we anticipate continued substantial investments in technology and personnel, resulting in increased operating expenses in the future.

Marketing and sales. Marketing and sales expense consists primarily of employee compensation, benefits, commissions, stock-based compensation, marketing programs such as electronic, print and pay-per-click advertising, trade shows and other related overhead, which includes an allocation of information technology expense including amortization of Protolabs 2.0 software assets. We expect sales and marketing expense to increase in the future as we increase the number of marketing and sales professionals and marketing programs targeted to increase our customer base and grow revenue.

Research and development. Research and development expense consists primarily of personnel and outside service costs related to the development of new processes and product lines, enhancement of existing product lines, development of software for internal use, maintenance of internally developed software, quality assurance and testing. Costs for internal use software are evaluated by project and capitalized where appropriate under ASC 350-40, Intangibles — Goodwill and Other, Internal-Use Software. We expect research and development expense to increase in the future as we seek to enhance our e-commerce interface technology, internal software and supporting business systems, and continue to expand our product lines.

General and administrative. General and administrative expense consists primarily of employee compensation, benefits, stock-based compensation, professional service fees related to accounting, tax and legal, and other related overhead, which includes an allocation of information technology expense including amortization of Protolabs 2.0 software assets. We expect general and administrative expense to increase in the future as we continue to grow and expand as a global organization.

Closure of Japan business. Closure of Japan business expense is driven by our decision to close the Japan manufacturing facility and exit the Japan market. The expenses consist primarily of operating expense, including employee severance, write-down of fixed assets, facility-related charges and goodwill impairment charges.

Other Income (Loss), net

Other income (loss), net primarily consists of foreign currency-related gains and losses and interest income on cash balances and investments. Our foreign currency-related gains and losses will vary depending upon movements in underlying foreign currency exchange rates. Our interest income will vary each reporting period depending on our average cash balances during the period, composition of our marketable security portfolio and the current level of interest rates.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes is comprised of federal, state, local and foreign taxes based on pre-tax income. Overall, our effective tax rate for 2022 and beyond may differ from historical effective tax rates due to increases in losses in foreign operations that are not eligible for tax benefits on account of valuation allowances, as well as any future tax law changes that may impact our effective tax rate.

Results of Operations

The following table summarizes our results of operations and the related changes for the periods indicated. The results below are not necessarily indicative of the results for future periods.