Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Climb 10.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares rose 10.5% to about $160.46 in mid-day trading, despite trading volume running 47% below the average session level.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Barclays, TD Cowen and Canaccord raised price targets to $190–$215 with bullish ratings, while the overall consensus remained “Hold” with an average target of $143.67.
• The company’s latest quarter showed 23.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $118.38 million but a larger-than-expected loss of $0.56 per share; insiders have also sold roughly $93.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 10.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $159.31 and last traded at $160.4610. Approximately 915,491 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,730,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on TWST. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $112.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $115.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. BWS Financial reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.67.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 10.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.06 and a beta of 2.19. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $150.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.26.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Twist Bioscience news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 4,548 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.15, for a total value of $919,378.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 562,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,761,934. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 2,462 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.30, for a total value of $384,810.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 98,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,335,218.20. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their position. 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 601,920 shares of company stock valued at $93,768,202 in the last three months. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter valued at about $600,191,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $223,722,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,922,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,563,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Twist Bioscience by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 354,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,842,000 after buying an additional 84,321 shares in the last quarter.

About Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures synthetic DNA and related products for life sciences research. The company uses a proprietary silicon-based platform to produce high-quality DNA at scale, supporting applications in synthetic biology, drug discovery and development, agriculture, and academic and industrial research.

Its offerings include synthetic genes, oligonucleotides, gene fragments, variant libraries, and antibody discovery products.

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