Protolabs (PRLB) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and Protolabs published the results on October 29, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. Protolabs reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and non-GAAP, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• Protolabs' two reportable segments are geographic: the United States ($125.4 million) and Europe ($28.9 million). The table above is its product-line split from the release.

Source: Protolabs Q3 2026 results release, October 29, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Protolabs splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Protolabs's Injection Molding revenue was $53.7 million in Q3 2026, up 12% from $47.8 million in Q3 2025, 35% of total revenue.
• Protolabs's CNC Machining revenue was $73.4 million in Q3 2026, up 16% from $63.0 million in Q3 2025, 48% of total revenue.
• Protolabs's 3D Printing revenue was $22.4 million in Q3 2026, up 11% from $20.1 million in Q3 2025, 14% of total revenue.
• Protolabs's Sheet Metal revenue was $4.1 million in Q3 2026, down 5% from $4.3 million in Q3 2025, 3% of total revenue.
• Protolabs's Other Revenue revenue was $0.8 million in Q3 2026, up 284% from $0.2 million in Q3 2025, under 1% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

In its Q3 2026 release, Protolabs said:

“For full year 2026, Protolabs is raising its guidance and now expects revenue growth between 10% and 11%.”

“For the fourth quarter of 2026, the Company expects revenue between $143.0 million and $151.0 million.”

“For the fourth quarter of 2026, the Company expects GAAP diluted net income per share between $0.28 and $0.36, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share between $0.46 and $0.54.”

Source: Protolabs Q3 2026 release, Oct 29, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Oct 29, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the PRLB forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP revenue and diluted EPS, each as first reported. Q4 2025 is from Protolabs' fourth-quarter release, which prints revenue to one decimal in millions.

We do not hold a confirmed date for Protolabs's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Oct 29, 2026

Protolabs reported record Q3 2026 revenue of $154.3 million, up 14.0% (14.2% in constant currency). CNC Machining was the largest line at $73.4 million, up 16.4%, followed by Injection Molding at $53.7 million, up 12.5%, and 3D Printing at $22.4 million, up 11.4%. Sheet Metal fell 4.7% to $4.1 million. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

Protolabs' reportable segments are geographic. The United States was $125.4 million, 81.3% of revenue and up 14.7%; Europe was $28.9 million, up 11.2% (12.2% in constant currency). The 10-Q puts the growth down to CNC Machining, Injection Molding and 3D Printing in the United States, mainly from aerospace and defense customers, and to market dynamics that have driven price increases. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026; Protolabs Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026)

Protolabs served 20,777 customer contacts in the quarter, down from 21,252, while revenue per customer contact rose 16.6% to $7,427 from $6,370. Customer contacts are the engineers, product developers and procurement staff who place an order that ships and is invoiced in the period. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

Protolabs makes custom parts in its own factories in the United States and Europe and, through the Protolabs Network (formerly Hubs), with manufacturing partners across North America, Europe and Asia. It says its software has analyzed over 18 million unique part designs, and about 96% of its 2025 revenue came from existing customers. (Protolabs Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 20, 2026)

Protolabs earned $0.48 per diluted share in Q3 2026, up from $0.30, on net income of $11.8 million against $7.2 million. GAAP operating margin rose to 9.4% from 6.5%, although GAAP gross margin slipped to 44.5% from 45.3%. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

Protolabs' non-GAAP EPS of $0.63 adds back stock-based compensation ($3.4 million), amortization ($902 thousand), restructuring and transformation costs ($434 thousand) and unrealized foreign currency loss, and subtracts a net trade refund of $709 thousand, less $531 thousand of tax effect. Non-GAAP operating margin was 11.9% against 10.0%. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

Protolabs' effective tax rate was 27.4% against 29.6% a year earlier. Diluted shares were 24,438,800 against 24,191,039; Protolabs repurchased $10.0 million of stock over the first nine months, down from $36.7 million in the same period of 2025. (Protolabs Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Oct 29, 2026; Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Protolabs guides in its release. It raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth outlook to 10% to 11%, from 8% to 10%, and for Q4 2026 expects revenue of $143.0 million to $151.0 million, GAAP diluted EPS of $0.28 to $0.36 and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.46 to $0.54. (Protolabs Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Oct 29, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Protolabs, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Protolabs's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning PRLB is on is PRLB a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the PRLB forecast, and what the company does is on the Protolabs (PRLB) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Protolabs published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.