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Twist Bioscience TWST Surges On Lilly AI Deal And Target Hike

ELLIS HOBBS•UPDATED SEP. 24, 2026, 3:02 PM ET
Reviewed by Matt Monacoand Fact-checked by Bryce Tuohey

Twist Bioscience Corporation stocks have been trading up by 13.92 percent after upbeat synthetic biology growth prospects lifted investor optimism.

Key Takeaways

  • Shares of TWST jumped after the Lilly TuneLab antibody data deal, with moves reported from roughly 1.5% to more than 4% as traders responded to the AI-driven collaboration news.
  • The company signed on to supply antibody characterization data and services into Eli Lilly’s AI/ML TuneLab platform, feeding high-quality wet-lab data into Lilly’s drug discovery models.
  • Leerink boosted its TWST price target from $120 to $160 and kept an Outperform rating, pointing to conservative revenue guidance and a large AI-focused drug discovery opportunity.
  • Management said pilot work with Anthropic on AI-designed mini-binder proteins is “probably sort of” already baked into fiscal 2027 orders, limiting surprise upside from that project.
  • A recent Form 4 showed changes in beneficial ownership of Twist Bioscience securities by an insider or major holder, a data point governance-focused traders may track over time.

Candlestick Chart

Live Update At 15:02:01 EDT: On Thursday, September 24, 2026 Twist Bioscience Corporation stock [NASDAQ: TWST] is trending up by 13.92%! Discover the key drivers behind this movement as well as our expert analysis in the detailed breakdown below.

Quick Financial Overview

TWST has been trading like a momentum name, not a sleepy lab supplier. Over the last several sessions, Twist Bioscience ripped from a close near $124 in early September to about $180 by 2026/09/24. That’s a powerful trend for any mid-cap growth story, and it tells traders that money is crowding into the TWST AI narrative.

On the tape, the intraday 5‑minute chart shows steady higher lows through the afternoon, with TWST grinding from the mid-$170s to just over $180 into the close. That kind of controlled push, not a one-and-done spike, often signals real accumulation instead of pure day-trader noise.

Fundamentally, Twist Bioscience is still early. TWST generated about $118.4M in quarterly revenue, with gross margin near 52%, but it’s not profitable yet. The latest quarter showed a net loss of roughly $35.1M and negative EBIT and EBITDA. Cash burn is real, though operating cash flow did flip slightly positive at about $1.1M, helped by working capital and hefty stock-based compensation.

More Breaking News

Key ratios back up the “high-growth, high-risk” label. TWST carries a rich price-to-sales multiple around 25x and price-to-book above 24x, while returns on assets and equity are deeply negative. Balance sheet strength, with a current ratio of 2.7 and modest debt, gives the company time, but traders should remember TWST is being priced for future execution, not current earnings.

Why Traders Are Watching TWST Right Now

What lit the match under TWST this week is simple: big pharma validation plus AI buzz. Twist Bioscience announced an agreement with Eli Lilly to feed antibody characterization data into Lilly’s AI/ML drug discovery platform, TuneLab. In plain English, TWST will run wet-lab experiments on antibodies, then push clean, structured data into Lilly’s models to help design better drugs faster.

For a chart-focused trader, that type of deal matters because it ties TWST’s revenue engine to a large, credible partner. Multiple headlines reported TWST shares climbing 1.5% to more than 4% after the Lilly TuneLab news hit. That’s not random; that’s the market re-rating Twist Bioscience as a more integral player in AI-powered biologics discovery.

This isn’t TWST’s first AI link, either. Management confirmed pilot work with Anthropic on AI-designed mini-binder proteins. The company said that project is “probably sort of” already baked into its fiscal 2027 orders outlook. Translation for traders: the Anthropic work shows Twist Bioscience is in the AI protein-design mix, but you shouldn’t count on it as hidden upside to current long-term guidance.

Layer on top the fresh Wall Street backing. Leerink raised its TWST price target from $120 to $160 and reiterated an Outperform rating, calling revenue targets conservative and emphasizing a large AI drug discovery opportunity. When a respected firm lifts targets like that right as the stock breaks out, momentum traders pay attention.

Under the hood, there’s also an insider Form 4 reflecting changes in beneficial ownership. One filing doesn’t give a clear signal, but it reminds active traders to watch future insider activity as TWST’s story evolves.

Conclusion

For active traders, TWST is a classic “story plus chart” setup. Twist Bioscience now sits at the crossroads of synthetic biology and AI, with Lilly’s TuneLab deal plugging its antibody services directly into a blue-chip pharma platform. The stock’s move from the $120s to around $180 in a few weeks shows how fast sentiment can shift when Wall Street and news flow line up.

At the same time, the numbers remind everyone this is a work-in-progress company. TWST is still running sizeable losses, sporting negative returns on capital and rich valuation multiples. The balance sheet looks solid, but the premium price assumes Twist Bioscience converts AI collaborations like Lilly and Anthropic into durable, growing revenue streams over the next several years.

For short-term trading, the recent price-target hike from Leerink to $160, coupled with the breakout above that level, creates a clear psychological battleground. TWST is now trading above where that analyst thinks it’s worth over the next year, which can either fuel a squeeze higher or set up sharp pullbacks if enthusiasm fades.

The core mindset, as Tim Sykes loves to hammer home, is simple: “Trade the price action, not the hype. Let the chart confirm the story, cut losses fast, and never fall in love with a stock.” As millionaire penny stock trader and teacher Tim Sykes says, “Cut losses quickly, let profits ride, and don’t overtrade.”. TWST gives traders a strong story, but the only real edge comes from disciplined trading around that story, not from believing any single headline guarantees what happens next.

This is stock news, not investment advice. Timothy Sykes News delivers real-time stock market news focused on key catalysts driving short-term price movements. Our content is tailored for active traders and investors seeking to capitalize on rapid price fluctuations, particularly in volatile sectors like penny stocks. Readers come to us for detailed coverage on earnings reports, mergers, FDA approvals, new contracts, and unusual trading volumes that can trigger significant short-term price action. Some users utilize our news to explain sudden stock movements, while others rely on it for diligent research into potential investment opportunities.

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A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

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Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”