Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience hit a new 52-week high of $62.09 (last $61.88) on Tuesday with about 1,033,430 shares traded, and the stock was up roughly 3.5%.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $47.13—below the current price—while several firms have recently raised price targets and ratings.
• The company reported revenue growth of 16.9% to $103.7M but remains unprofitable (Q EPS -$0.50, negative net margin ~19.6% and negative ROE), though it has strong liquidity (current ratio 3.78) and very low debt (debt/equity 0.03).

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $62.09 and last traded at $61.88, with a volume of 1033430 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $59.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TWST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price target on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.13.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $48.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.34 and a beta of 2.20.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.02). Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 19.56% and a negative return on equity of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $103.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.32 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Twist Bioscience

In other Twist Bioscience news, SVP Paula Green sold 935 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total value of $43,412.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 124,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,775,938.43. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 2,423 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.43, for a total transaction of $112,499.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 860,629 shares in the company, valued at $39,959,004.47. The trade was a 0.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,049 shares of company stock worth $2,363,717. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Twist Bioscience

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 562.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist's offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.

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