4 models fit Proto Labs Inc. Common stock and they partly agree: 2 of 4 land within 15% of the average. The price is above every model.
Two or more of our models back this value.
Large premium(i)Silver66
Valued as a mature, profitable company: Discounted cash flow, P/E comparison, EV/EBITDA comparison, Graham number, and Dividend discount.
ACCE opinionProto Labs Inc. Common stock (PRLB)
Fair value (4 models)
$34.17
ACCE price target
$90.00
Rating
Overvalued
Horizon
12 months
Fair value published on 24 Oct 2026, 16:06 CEST; previously $36.17 since 17 Oct 2026, 00:00 CEST.
ACCE price target published on 11 Oct 2026, 00:00 CEST.
Rating published on 24 Oct 2026, 16:06 CEST.
Price used: $85.61 at the close on 23 Oct 2026, 22:00 CEST.
Models: Discounted cash flow, P/E comparison, EV/EBITDA comparison, and Graham number.
Fair value: the average of the applicable valuation models (discounted cash flow, multiples, residual income, dividend discount, shareholder yield), each run on the latest financial statements and the market price shown. Opinion columns (fair value, target, rating) are shown apart from the data. Full methodology: acceinvestments.com/data/how-we-value-stocks
Conflicts of interest: The author holds no personal position in this security. General statement
Produced by ACCE Investments (acceinvestments.com)
Data
Price vs fair value
150.5% above
-60.1% to fair value
ACCE score
64
out of 100
Analysts
80% buy
5 covering
P/E
67.9x
forward 35.9x
1-year return
+54.9%
Dividend yield
0.00%
Proto Labs Inc. Common stock in four questions
Plain answers, details below
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Overview
ACCE thesis
Proto Labs runs on-demand manufacturing: customers upload CAD files and receive injection-molded plastic parts, CNC-machined metal parts, and 3D-printed prototypes and short-run production, quoted and often shipped within days. The moat is the digital quoting and automated production workflow, which lets it serve a long tail of low-volume customers that traditional job shops can't price efficiently. Revenue growth of 10.6% and a 45.4% gross margin show the model still compounds, though the 8.8% operating margin and 4.5% ROE leave little cushion and suggest the cost base is absorbing much of that gross profit. The stock trades at 32.3 times forward earnings against 69.4 times trailing, so the market is pricing a sharp earnings recovery that the next few quarters must confirm before the multiple compresses or holds. At a 2.1 billion dollar market cap with no index membership, it is a small, under-followed industrial where a margin inflection would matter more than another quarter of top-line growth.
⚠ Investor warnings · 2 flagsAI-assisted·How I use AI
high
Valuation stretched on model
Price trades 150.5% above the model fair value of $34.17, and P/E of 68.0 against a forward P/E of 32.3 shows earnings growth is being priced in heavily.
moderate
Thin returns on equity
ROE of 4.5% and operating margin of 8.8% are modest for a stock at a P/S of 3.7, leaving little cushion if growth slows from the 10.6% revenue pace.
AI research notes
AI-assisted·How I use AIWritten Oct 19, 2026 · figures from 2026-10-16 · prices to Oct 23, 2026
Why it could do well
Revenue grew 10.6% year over year, well ahead of the company's 4.2% average annual pace over five years.
The company carries no debt, with a debt to equity ratio of 0.00, and generated $60M of free cash flow over the last twelve months.
Why it could disappoint
At $85.61, the stock trades 150.5% above the model fair value of $34.17, and four of five valuation models sit well below the price.
The trailing P/E of 68.0x sits far above the sector median forward P/E of 23.8x, and the forward P/E of 32.3x still carries a premium.
Return on invested capital is only 2.6% and net margin is 5.4%, and the latest quarter missed expected earnings per share by 5.1%.
Each chip shows the exact figure and where it comes from. A claim without a source is not published.
Next results
Oct 29, 2026
We update the fair value about 2 days after the results, once the new figures are filed.Add to calendarGoogle
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Valuation
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Where PRLB's valuation models land
Price
$85.61
Model fair value
$34.17
Model range
$23.62 to $47.84
Fair value $34.17
Price $85.61
The price is above the whole model range.
Model
Fair value
Upside
Discounted cash flow
Dividend discount
EV/EBITDA comparison
Graham number
P/E comparison
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Quality
INVESTOR
Quality and conviction INVESTOR FEATURE
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