Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Twist Bioscience Co. (NASDAQ:TWST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $32.01, but opened at $38.28. Twist Bioscience shares last traded at $38.98, with a volume of 1,284,463 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.84) by $0.05. Twist Bioscience had a negative net margin of 69.24% and a negative return on equity of 30.81%. The firm had revenue of $75.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TWST has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Twist Bioscience from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Twist Bioscience from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $30.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Chess sold 4,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $143,767.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 64,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,244,631.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Patrick John Finn sold 2,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.12, for a total transaction of $65,480.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 176,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,307,324.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Chess sold 4,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $143,767.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 64,169 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,631.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,211 shares of company stock valued at $449,573. 3.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TWST. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Twist Bioscience by 523.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 150,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,147,000 after purchasing an additional 125,946 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 34.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 171,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,895,000 after buying an additional 44,349 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 30.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 156,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,362,000 after buying an additional 36,744 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 12.1% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,227,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,116,000 after buying an additional 132,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Twist Bioscience by 151.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter.

Twist Bioscience Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.03 and its 200-day moving average is $31.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -12.26 and a beta of 1.64.

Twist Bioscience Company Profile

Twist Bioscience Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of synthetic DNA-based products. The company offers synthetic genes and gene fragments used in product development for therapeutics, diagnostics, chemicals/materials, food/agriculture, data storage, and various applications within academic research by biotech, pharma, industrial chemical, and agricultural companies, as well as academic labs; Oligo pools used in targeted NGS, CRISPR gene editing, mutagenesis experiments, DNA origami, DNA computing, data storage in DNA, and other applications; and immunoglobulin G proteins for customers focused on the pursuit of drug discovery and development.