Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading 9.4% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience shares jumped 9.4% on Wednesday, trading as high as $92.45 after closing at $85.00, though volume was below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: several firms recently raised targets or reiterated bullish ratings, including Barclays lifting its price objective to $95.00. The stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus, with nine Buy ratings and one Sell.
• The company’s latest quarter showed revenue growth of 19.3% to $110.72 million, but it missed earnings expectations with EPS of -$0.71 versus -$0.49 expected. Insiders have also been selling shares, even as several institutional investors boosted their stakes.

Shares of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) were up 9.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $92.45 and last traded at $93.0260. Approximately 740,041 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,462,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TWST shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Twist Bioscience in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Twist Bioscience presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.60.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company's fifty day moving average is $64.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.35 and a beta of 2.23.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 26.73% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm had revenue of $110.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Twist Bioscience news, Director Jan Johannessen sold 12,000 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.12, for a total value of $673,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,354.48. The trade was a 40.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $240,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,694 shares in the company, valued at $7,121,640. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 33,170 shares of company stock worth $1,948,964 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWST. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,954,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812,146 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,082,319 shares of the company's stock worth $114,876,000 after buying an additional 1,696,377 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,410,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $180,403,000 after buying an additional 1,349,867 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Twist Bioscience by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,793,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,479,000 after buying an additional 1,080,722 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Twist Bioscience by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,559,495 shares of the company's stock worth $239,787,000 after acquiring an additional 832,687 shares in the last quarter.

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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