Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $103.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.32 million. Twist Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 27.40% and a negative net margin of 20.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Twist Bioscience’s conference call:

• Twist reported revenue of $103.7M in Q1, up 17% YoY (12th consecutive quarter of growth), raised Fiscal 2026 guidance to $435–440M, and reiterated a path to Adjusted EBITDA break-even in Q4 FY26.
• AI-enabled discovery is a major growth driver — DNA synthesis & protein solutions revenue grew 27% YoY to $51.1M, the company booked >$25M of AI-related orders in FY25, and has moved from exploratory work to repeatable production workflows (noting >50,000 genes used for characterization).
• Operational leverage is improving with Q1 gross margin at 52.0% and management saying ~75–80% of incremental revenue ultimately flows to gross margin, supported by existing capacity and ongoing process automation.
• Operating expenses increased (Q1 operating expenses ex-COGS of $86.9M vs. $77.5M prior year) due to structural hires and digital/transient investments, contributing to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $13.4M and Q1 operating cash use of $24.8M.
• NGS applications remain a sizable opportunity (>$3B serviceable market, ~7% share today; Q1 NGS revenue ~$52.6M) but includes customer concentration (top-10 NGS customers ≈36% of NGS revenue) and management expects 2026 growth mostly from existing partners while adding new diagnostic partners for longer-term expansion.

Twist Bioscience Trading Up 14.0%

Shares of Twist Bioscience stock opened at $46.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Twist Bioscience has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $54.74. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.73 and a beta of 2.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Twist Bioscience from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Twist Bioscience in a report on Monday, November 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Twist Bioscience in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Twist Bioscience has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.67.

More Twist Bioscience News

Here are the key news stories impacting Twist Bioscience this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 revenue beat and full-year revenue guide raised — Revenue was $103.7M (+16.9% YoY) and management lifted FY2026 revenue guidance to $435–$440M, which supports growth expectations. Twist Bioscience Announces Fiscal 2026 First Quarter Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability path and margin targets — Management reiterated a target of adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q4 2026 and expects gross margin above 52% for fiscal 2026, indicating improving unit economics if execution holds. Twist Bioscience: Ingenious Product Still Lacks Compelling Use Cases
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term revenue guide above Street — Company updated Q2 revenue guidance to $107–$108M, above consensus, giving investors a clearer near-term growth trajectory. Earnings Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Detailed materials released — The earnings slide deck and full earnings call transcript are available for investors to review management commentary and assumptions driving the guidance. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript Q1 Results – Earnings Call Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Small EPS miss and continued losses — Reported EPS was ($0.50), missing consensus (~$0.49) and the company remains unprofitable with a negative net margin; this keeps execution and cash-conversion risks in focus. Twist Bioscience (TWST) Reports Q1 Loss, Misses Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst skepticism on market size/use cases — Commentary highlights that while the platform and AI initiatives are promising, the company still needs clearer, larger commercial use cases to justify long-term valuation — a reminder that guidance beats may not eliminate structural demand questions. Twist Bioscience: Ingenious Product Still Lacks Compelling Use Cases

Insider Activity at Twist Bioscience

In other news, CEO Emily M. Leproust sold 1,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.56, for a total transaction of $55,468.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 874,313 shares in the company, valued at $30,216,257.28. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Adam Laponis sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 137,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,481,240. The trade was a 2.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,940 shares of company stock valued at $292,643. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Twist Bioscience

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the third quarter worth approximately $685,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Twist Bioscience by 37.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 497,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,989,000 after purchasing an additional 134,929 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Twist Bioscience by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth $363,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Twist Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth $242,000.

About Twist Bioscience

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.