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Twist Bioscience Stock Jumps As Lilly AI Deal Fuels Bullish Target Hike

JACK KELLOGG•UPDATED SEP. 24, 2026, 4:47 PM ET
Reviewed by Tim Sykesand Fact-checked by Ellis Hobbs

Twist Bioscience Corporation stocks have been trading up by 16.21 percent after strong earnings and guidance boosted investor confidence.

Key Takeaways

  • Leerink raised its price target on Twist Bioscience from $120 to $160, reiterating Outperform on TWST and pointing to a big AI-driven drug discovery runway.
  • The company signed a deal to feed antibody characterization data into Eli Lilly’s AI/ML TuneLab platform, plugging Twist Bioscience directly into Lilly’s discovery engine.
  • Shares of TWST climbed, in some reports over 4%, after the Lilly TuneLab announcement, signaling traders are rewarding AI pharma tie-ups.
  • Management confirmed its AI-designed mini-binder work for Anthropic is already “probably sort of” baked into the fiscal 2027 orders outlook.
  • A recent Form 4 showed changes in beneficial ownership of Twist Bioscience stock by an insider or major holder, a governance detail traders are watching.

Candlestick Chart

Live Update At 16:46:53 EDT: On Thursday, September 24, 2026 Twist Bioscience Corporation stock [NASDAQ: TWST] is trending up by 16.21%! Discover the key drivers behind this movement as well as our expert analysis in the detailed breakdown below.

Quick Financial Overview

Twist Bioscience (TWST) is trading like a high‑beta AI biotech, and the numbers back that up. Over the last few weeks, TWST has ripped from a close of $124.72 on 2026/09/04 to $184.03 on 2026/09/24. That’s roughly a 47% move in three weeks, with the latest session alone jumping from an open of $157.72 to a close near the highs at $184.03. Intraday action shows steady, controlled buying, not just a one‑and‑done spike.

On the fundamentals, Twist Bioscience is still deep in growth mode. Revenue over the latest quarter came in at about $118.4M, with annualized sales around $376.6M. Gross margin is strong at 52%, but EBIT margin is about -31.8%, and net income for the quarter was roughly -$35.1M. TWST is burning cash, though operating cash flow just flipped barely positive at $1.1M, with free cash flow at about -$8.6M.

The balance sheet matters for a story stock like TWST. Cash and equivalents of roughly $117.4M, plus short-term investments, support a current ratio of 2.7 and low leverage, with total debt-to-equity at 0.21. For traders, that means Twist Bioscience has room to fund its AI and antibody push, but the valuation is rich, with price-to-sales over 25. TWST trades like a momentum name where execution and news flow drive the next leg.

Why Traders Are Watching TWST Now

Traders are glued to Twist Bioscience because this is a classic momentum setup backed by real news, not just hype. The core driver is the new agreement with Eli Lilly’s AI/ML drug discovery platform, TuneLab. Under this deal, Twist Bioscience will provide antibody characterization data and services that feed directly into Lilly’s AI models, like AbLab, and wider TuneLab workflows. That puts TWST at the wet‑lab heart of a blue‑chip pharma’s AI engine.

For active trading, that matters. It signals that Lilly trusts Twist Bioscience’s protocols and quality enough to let TuneLab users order TWST antibody services as a built‑in option. That kind of integration often means recurring data streams and deeper technical lock‑in over time. The market reacted fast: multiple reports noted TWST shares rising after the announcement, with one citing a gain of more than 4% on the day the Lilly TuneLab partnership hit.

Layer on the Wall Street angle. Leerink just raised its price target on Twist Bioscience from $120 to $160 while keeping an Outperform rating. The firm called management’s revenue targets conservative and highlighted a “large, early-stage AI drug discovery opportunity.” Traders see that as confirmation that the AI narrative around TWST isn’t just story stock talk; it’s now embedded in institutional models.

There’s also the Anthropic link. Twist Bioscience confirmed its pilot work making and testing AI-designed mini-binder proteins for Anthropic is real and, importantly, “probably sort of” already included in fiscal 2027 orders guidance. That tells traders two things. First, TWST is plugged into frontier AI players beyond pharma. Second, management is not overselling this as unexpected upside, which reins in the froth.

Finally, a recent Form 4 disclosed changes in beneficial ownership by an insider or major shareholder. Without details on buys versus sells, that’s neutral by itself, but short‑term traders will still watch follow‑on filings around this big move in TWST.

Conclusion

Twist Bioscience sits at the intersection of two powerful themes traders love: AI and biotech. The Lilly TuneLab deal pushes TWST deeper into AI-driven antibody discovery, while the Anthropic mini-binder project shows Twist Bioscience is also relevant to cutting-edge AI labs outside traditional pharma. When you add Leerink’s target hike to $160 and its Outperform rating, the Street is clearly leaning bullish on the company’s AI data platform potential.

But this is still a high‑risk, high‑reward chart. TWST is unprofitable, free cash flow is negative, and the price-to-sales multiple is steep. All of that is fine for momentum trading as long as the news stays positive and the trend holds. When growth names like Twist Bioscience run this far, this fast, sharp pullbacks are part of the game, not a surprise.

For traders, the key is to treat TWST as a trading vehicle, not a story to fall in love with. As millionaire penny stock trader and teacher Tim Sykes, says, “There is always another play around the corner; don’t chase just because you feel FOMO.”. Watch how the stock reacts to every new data point on Lilly TuneLab usage, Anthropic progress, and any update to revenue guidance. As Tim Sykes likes to say, “Patterns repeat, but only disciplined traders get paid.” Apply that mindset here: study the TWST chart, respect the volatility, and always know your risk before you hit the buy button.

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”