Velo3D Q4 2025: Record $31M Backlog as Defense Contracts Drive Production Pivot

Defense and Aerospace Driving Production Shift

Velo3D (Nasdaq: VELO) is transforming from a machine seller to a production-focused 3D printing company, and the strategy is paying off. The company reported full-year 2025 revenue of $46 million, up from $41 million in 2024, with a record backlog of $31 million heading into 2026.

In Q4 2025, revenue came in at $9.4 million — down from $12.6 million in the same period the previous year, but the company beat analyst expectations of $8.68 million. More importantly, bookings hit a record high, signaling accelerating demand.

What's driving this growth is not just adoption, it's reliance. Our technology has become mission-critical, CEO Arun Jeldi told investors on the earnings call.

Defense Contracts Powering Growth

The defense sector is becoming Velo3D's biggest growth engine. In 2025, the company secured:

• A $32.6 million agreement tied to Project FORGE
• An $11.5 million multi-year production contract with a defense contractor
• Qualification as the first additive manufacturing company under the U.S. Army's Ground Vehicle Systems Center initiative

Jeldi emphasized that customers are no longer just testing additive manufacturing — they're scaling into production. Programs that begin with a single system are quickly expanding to multiple systems, sometimes within months. As volumes increase and new programs come online, demand just doesn't grow; it accelerates, he said.

Losses Persist Despite Growth

Despite the revenue uptick, profitability remains a challenge. Velo3D posted a full-year net loss of $71.4 million, slightly larger than the $69.9 million loss in 2024. Gross margins were negative for both the quarter and the year, driven by a $7 million inventory write-down and production delays during a government shutdown.

The market reacted poorly to the results — Velo3D's stock dropped more than 20% the day after earnings, though it remains roughly 330% higher than a year ago.

However, the company is making progress on costs. Operating expenses dropped to $47.5 million in 2025, down from $76.8 million the year before.

Path to Profitability

Velo3D expects 2026 revenue of $60 million to $70 million and aims to achieve positive EBITDA in the second half of the year. The company raised $30 million through a private placement and converted $15 million of debt into equity, reducing total debt by about 60%. Cash reserves stand at $39 million, up from $1.2 million a year earlier.

Looking further ahead, Velo3D plans to build up to 400 production systems over the next decade. The longer-term vision includes building a data and analytics platform that Jeldi compared to the AWS of manufacturing — a platform customers rely on for design optimization and production insights.