Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Trading Up 10.2% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Twist Bioscience stock jumped 10.2% in mid-day trading, briefly reaching $53.96 after closing at $49.50 the previous day. Trading volume was below average, with about 782,925 shares changing hands.
• Analysts have turned more bullish on the company, with several firms raising price targets and issuing Buy/Outperform ratings. The consensus rating is now Moderate Buy, with an average target price of $56.57.
• Recent earnings showed mixed results: revenue rose 19.3% year over year to $110.72 million, but EPS missed expectations at -$0.71 versus -$0.49 forecast. The company remains unprofitable, though its balance sheet appears solid with low debt and strong liquidity.

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST - Get Free Report) was up 10.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.96 and last traded at $54.5270. Approximately 782,925 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 1,333,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TWST shares. Evercore raised their target price on Twist Bioscience from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Twist Bioscience from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Twist Bioscience from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.57.

Twist Bioscience Stock Up 8.2%

The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.66 and a beta of 2.22. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $51.92 and its 200-day moving average is $42.79.

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). The company had revenue of $110.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.64 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 26.73% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.66) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Twist Bioscience Corporation will post -1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Chess sold 10,000 shares of Twist Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $470,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $990,948. The trade was a 32.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,121,640. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,551 shares of company stock worth $2,566,533. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Twist Bioscience during the 1st quarter worth about $76,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 584,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,764,000 after purchasing an additional 184,907 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 7.6% in the first quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 145,960 shares of the company's stock worth $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 10,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Twist Bioscience by 20.6% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,348 shares of the company's stock worth $3,343,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 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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