Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Up 6.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares rose 6.6% to about $152.10 in mid-day trading, despite trading volume running 42% below average.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with Barclays, Canaccord Genuity, and TD Cowen raising their price targets to $215, $205, and $190, respectively. However, the consensus rating remains “Hold” with an average target of $143.67.
• The company reported 23.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $118.38 million in its latest quarter, but missed adjusted EPS expectations and continues to post negative profitability. Insiders sold roughly $93.8 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) shares were up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $152.71 and last traded at $152.1040. Approximately 989,822 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,721,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TWST. Barclays increased their target price on Twist Bioscience from $112.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $120.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Twist Bioscience from $115.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $144.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.67.

Twist Bioscience Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.60 and a beta of 2.19. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $148.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.57. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 28.64% and a negative net margin of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $118.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Emily Leproust sold 356,546 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.99, for a total transaction of $56,330,702.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 620,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $98,046,856.11. This trade represents a 36.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Paula Green sold 10,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.88, for a total value of $1,905,421.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 106,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,140,652.16. This represents a 8.64% 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 sold 601,920 shares of company stock valued at $93,768,202 in the last 90 days. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the second quarter valued at approximately $600,191,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Twist Bioscience during the second quarter valued at about $223,722,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the second quarter worth about $94,922,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Twist Bioscience in the first quarter valued at about $22,563,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 31.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 354,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,842,000 after purchasing an additional 84,321 shares during the period.

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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