Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Up 8.9% – Still a Buy?

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) traded up 8.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $166.96 and last traded at $172.6130. Approximately 175,939 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 1,555,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.50.

Twist Bioscience News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Twist Bioscience this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Lilly TuneLab partnership expands Twist’s potential role in drug discovery and reinforces the growth narrative around synthetic biology, genomics and artificial intelligence. Twist Bioscience Expands AI Drug Discovery Exposure With Lilly TuneLab Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Twist’s latest quarterly results provided fundamental support for the advance: revenue rose 23.2% year over year to $118.4 million and the company raised its full-year revenue outlook. However, it still reported a quarterly loss and missed the consensus EPS estimate.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s move to a new 12-month high may encourage continued momentum trading, but its sharp appreciation also leaves it vulnerable to profit-taking and consolidation. Twist Bioscience Hits New 12-Month High
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst ratings remain generally favorable, including several Buy recommendations, but reported consensus price targets near or below the current trading range highlight valuation risk after the rally.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Emily Leproust sold 1,687 shares, while SVP Paula Green sold 294 shares and insider Dennis Cho sold 348 shares at approximately $165.49 per share. The filings state that the sales covered tax withholding related to vested equity awards, and each executive retained substantial holdings, which reduces—but does not eliminate—the negative signal. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reporting indicates 87 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months. Combined with continuing losses and an elevated growth-stock valuation, the pattern could weigh on sentiment and increase the risk of a pullback.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Evercore downgraded shares of Twist Bioscience from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $102.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.00.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.08 and a beta of 2.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.55 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 31.66% and a negative return on equity of 28.64%. Twist Bioscience’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Twist Bioscience news, SVP Paula Green sold 294 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.49, for a total value of $48,654.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 116,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,315,992.80. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,399 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $226,297.67. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,402,335.08. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 516,574 shares of company stock worth $77,493,635 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Twist Bioscience in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $277,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 54.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter worth $283,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA using a proprietary silicon-based platform. The company serves researchers and organizations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, agriculture, industrial chemicals and academic research.

Its products include synthetic genes, gene fragments, oligonucleotides and DNA libraries used in research, drug discovery, diagnostics development and other applications. Twist also provides next-generation sequencing tools and products, including target-enrichment and sample-preparation solutions, as well as synthetic biology services that support the design and testing of biological systems.

Twist was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.